Saint Joseph the Patriarch (San José Patriarca)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Painted in New Mexico, this small religious scene, or retablo, was meant for private devotion in a chapel or home. Retablos typically depict saints, angels, or the Virgin Mary. The New Mexican painters who specialized in these subjects were called santeros . To develop their iconographies, santeros looked to a variety of printed materials, including woodcuts, pamphlets, and illustrated Bibles. In this retablo, Saint Joseph holds the Christ Child in one hand and a stalk of lilies in the other. The artist appears to have rendered Joseph's carpenter tools, a clue to the saint's identity, at right.

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