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Guido Reni, St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus
Italian, 1620s
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum
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For most of the history of Christian art St. Joseph was either ignored or treated as a very minor background figure. Early depictions of the birth of Jesus don’t include him at all! And, since his appearances in the New Testament end with the episode of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple at the age of twelve, that (as a background figure at the Nativity) was pretty much the limit of inclusion for Joseph.
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Guido da Siena, Nativity Italian, ca. 1270 Paris, Musée du Louvre In this thirteenth-century Italian Nativity scene, Joseph (shown seating at the extreme left at the bottom) has about the same level of importance as the midwives who bathe the Baby Jesus or the kneeling shepherd and his dog. |
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| Duccio, Nativity Italian, 1308-1311 Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art
In this picture, by Duccio, Joseph has increased in size, a sure indicator that he is becoming a more important figure. So, he is now marginally more important than the midwives and the shepherds with their sheep and dog because he is bigger in size.
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Both of these aspects of Joseph’s iconography, his advanced age and his detachment, spring from the concern to protect both the divinity of Christ and the perpetual virginity of Mary. It was thought that a younger, more involved figure might raise questions about his role.1
By the later middle ages this was beginning to change. While still shown as an old man, Joseph began to take a more active role in the scenes of Jesus’ life. He is brought into the same space as Mary and Jesus. He begins to help at the birth, join Mary in adoration of the Child, welcome the Magi, take part in the Presentation in the Temple and to work.
Other scenes, taken from apocryphal stories of the life of Mary, began to appear, among them the story of his choice as Mary’s husband and the marriage ceremony itself. According to the stories, Mary had many eligible suitors. In order to ensure that the choice would fall to a truly good man, the Temple elders required all the suitors to bring a dry rod to the Temple. The rods were placed on the altar overnight. In the morning, only one had blossomed, the rod belonging to Joseph.
In the scene of the wedding of Mary and Joseph he carries his lily topped rod as a symbol of his own purity and as the sign of divine appointment as foster father for Jesus.
One of the most interesting images of Saint Joseph from the later middle ages/early Renaissance period appears on the right wing of the Annunciation triptych known as the Merode Altarpiece.
This triptych, now in the Cloisters branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was painted by the Flemish artist Robert Campin and his workshop during the second quarter of the fifteenth century. The central panel shows the Annunciation taking place in a typical 15th-century town parlor. The right wing shows Joseph in his workshop. He is seated at a bench and table by the open window of his shop, surrounded by the implements of his trade.
By the later middle ages this was beginning to change. While still shown as an old man, Joseph began to take a more active role in the scenes of Jesus’ life. He is brought into the same space as Mary and Jesus. He begins to help at the birth, join Mary in adoration of the Child, welcome the Magi, take part in the Presentation in the Temple and to work.
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| Master of Flemalle, Nativity Netherlandish, 1420 Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts |
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| Fra Filippo Lippi, Adoration of the Shepherds Italian, c. 1455 Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi |
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| Jacques Daret, Adoration of the Magi French, 1433-1435 Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Jacques Daret, Presentation of Jesus French, 1433-1435 Paris, Musée du Petit Palais |
Other scenes, taken from apocryphal stories of the life of Mary, began to appear, among them the story of his choice as Mary’s husband and the marriage ceremony itself. According to the stories, Mary had many eligible suitors. In order to ensure that the choice would fall to a truly good man, the Temple elders required all the suitors to bring a dry rod to the Temple. The rods were placed on the altar overnight. In the morning, only one had blossomed, the rod belonging to Joseph.
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| Giotto, Mary's Suitors Bring Their Rods to the Temple Italian, 1304-1306 Padua, Arena/Scrovegni Chapel |
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| Giotto, The Suitors Praying Over Their Rods Italian, 1304-1306 Padua, Arena/Scrovegni Chapel |
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| Giotto, The Marriage of Mary and Joseph Italian, 1304-1306 Padua, Arena/Scrovegni Chapel |
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| Fra Angelico, Marriage of the Virgin Italian, 1431-1432 Florence, Museo di San Marco |
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Raphael, Marriage of Virgin
Italian, 1504
Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
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| Rosso, Marriage of Virgin Italian, 1523 Florence, San Lorenzo |
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Alonso Cano, Marriage of the Virgin
Spanish, 1655-1657
Castres, Musée Goya
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One of the most interesting images of Saint Joseph from the later middle ages/early Renaissance period appears on the right wing of the Annunciation triptych known as the Merode Altarpiece.
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| Workshop of Robert Campin (Master of Flemalle), Merode Altarpiece Netherlandish, 1427-1432 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection |
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| Robert Campin and Workshop, St. Joseph, the Mousetrap Detail of the Merode Altarpiece, Right Wing |
Some completed projects appear on his workbench and on display in the window of the shop. Most conspicuous among them are two mousetraps (one is on the table, the other on display in the open window). Scholars have identified the symbolic meaning of these mousetraps. They are “the devil’s mousetrap".2
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| Robert Campin and Workshop, St. Joseph with completed mousetrap surrounded by tools and wood shavings Detail of the Merode Altarpiece, Right Wing |
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| Robert Campin and Workshop, St. Joseph with completed mousetrap on display Detail of the Merode Altarpiece, Right Wing |
The idea of the mousetrap as a symbol for the Redemption is drawn from sermons of St. Augustine – the Incarnation is God’s mousetrap to catch the devil. The devil wasn’t expecting the Messiah to come in the form of a human baby, especially one born into such humble surroundings. Further, St. Joseph himself is a third mousetrap. His presence as the apparent father of Jesus confused the devil further. The devil anticipated contending with a different kind of Messiah, not the child of a humble carpenter. So, by inspiring the human death of Jesus the devil was himself destroyed.
During the later Renaissance and into the Baroque period Joseph became more and more evident and involved. His age began to change as well. Although some artists continued to depict him as an older man many began to depict him as young and vigorous. Even those who chose to make him older never again made him as old as did the earlier images.
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| Michelangelo, Holy Family (Doni Tondo) Italian, ca. 1506 Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi |
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| Caravaggio, Rest on the Flight into Egypt Italian, 1596-1597 Rome, Galleria Doria-Pamphilji |
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| Philippe de Champaigne, Presentation of Jesus French, 1648 Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts |
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| Caesar van Everdingen, Holy Family Dutch, c. 1660 Utrecht, Museum Catherijneconvent |
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| Francesco Mancini, Holy Family Italian, c.1730 Vatican City, Musei Vaticani, Pinacoteca |
Artists also began to depict a closer relationship between Jesus and his foster father. They were more frequently seen in close connection to each other. Joseph now participates in family life. He carries and cares for the infant Jesus and teaches the boy Jesus.
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| Lucio Massari, La Madonna del Bucato Italian, c. 1620 Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi |
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George de la Tour, The Boy Jesus and St. Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop French, 1642 Paris, Musée du Louvre |
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| Sebastian Martinez, St. Joseph with the Christ Child Spanish, c. 1650 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado |
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| Juan Antonio Frias y Escalane, Saint Joseph and the Infant Christ Spanish, c. 1660-1665 Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum |
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| Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, St. Joseph with the Christ Child Italian, c. 1740 Private Collection |
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| Noel Halle, Holy Family French, 1753 Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum |
Finally, with Mary and Jesus, he forms a sort of terrestrial trinity represented by the familiar formula: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
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Bartolome Murillo, The Two Trinities
Spanish, 1675-1682
London, National Gallery of Art
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In 1899, in the encyclical Quamquam pluries (“Although many times”) Pope Leo XIII urged all Catholics to give Joseph special honor during the month of March and especially on the 19th of March, his feast day.*
Further the phrase “Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse" was added to the Divine Praises by Pope Benedict XV on February 23, 1921. Benedict XV also encouraged devotion to Saint Joseph in the Motu Proprio, Bonum Sane (It was a good thing), of July 25, 1920. *
In 1955 Pope Pius XII instituted an additional feast day for Saint Joseph, under the title of St. Joseph the Worker. It is celebrated on May 1, although it is frequently displaced by the Easter weekday.
In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI, whose baptismal name is Joseph, proclaimed Joseph as patron of the New Evangelization during the special Year of Faith celebrated that year.*
Similarly, Pope Francis, in an Apostolic Letter, Patris Corde ("With the Heart of a Father"), dated December 8, 2020, has proclaimed the liturgical year 2021 to be a special year devoted to Saint Joseph during which Catholics will reflect on Joseph's life and qualities. The Pope notes that it has been 150 years since Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph as patron of the universal Church. He adds further that 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reminded us of the importance of those seemingly hidden lives that keep the world going. As he says "Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. "*
© M. Duffy, 2012, updated 2021 and 2022.
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1. A good summary of the history of images of St. Joseph is found at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4464&CFID=126000758&CFTOKEN=56733566
2. Meyer Schapiro, "Muscipula Diaboli," The Symbolism of the Mérode Altarpiece, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep., 1945), pp. 182-187. http://reserves.fcla.edu/rsv/NC/010014478-1.pdf
Also see: Margaret B. Freeman, “The Iconography of the Merode Altarpiece”, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 16, no. 4, December 1957, pp. 130-139.
© M. Duffy, 2012, updated 2021 and 2022.
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1. A good summary of the history of images of St. Joseph is found at http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4464&CFID=126000758&CFTOKEN=56733566
2. Meyer Schapiro, "Muscipula Diaboli," The Symbolism of the Mérode Altarpiece, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sep., 1945), pp. 182-187. http://reserves.fcla.edu/rsv/NC/010014478-1.pdf
Also see: Margaret B. Freeman, “The Iconography of the Merode Altarpiece”, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 16, no. 4, December 1957, pp. 130-139.
