"Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus". Carved and polychrome wood. - Baroque - Wood - First half 18th century

Spanish school, 18th century. "Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus". Carved and polychromed wood. Measure: 30 cm high (total) . The carving has traces of having some light repainting at some point in the past. The pair is made up of St. Joseph with the baby Jesus. The nurturing father of Jesus gained importance throughout the Baroque period, when the devotion to his figure increased and, in parallel, his representation as an isolated cult figure or in the company of his son. The way of representing it would also change with regard to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Saint Joseph goes from being the venerable old man who welcomes Mary, or the risible old man who remains oblivious to the wonders that come under his own roof to become a mature but still young man, who is actively involved in the care and education of Jesus. That's how we see it in this carving. St. Joseph appears standing, holding a very young Jesus with his left arm, replacing thus Mary. Jesus is a graceful and chubby figure, with infantile shapes, sweet and rounded, represented completely naked. St. Joseph, on the other hand, wears a full-length tunic, and a cloak that he also holds with his left arm and that flies in dynamic folds. The face is framed by the long wavy hair and beard and both his head and the child´s are haloed with a nimbus of golden rays.