St. Joseph with the Christ Child, 1701 – 1800

About the Work

There are paintings of equal quality on either side of this oval. Joachim and Joseph – the father and husband of the Virgin Mary – were revered chiefly in southern Germany and Austria. This pair of images was perhaps carried in processions as a banner. In gratitude for the pregnancy of his aged wife, Anna, Joachim sacrificed a lamb after the conception. Joseph’s attribute is a flowering staff – according to legend, a symbol that he has been chosen as Mary’s husband. As Jesus’ ‘foster father’, he was the patron saint of marriage and child-rearing.