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Source Description
This figure of Saint Joseph was once brightly colored. It was probably part of a Nativity group that included the baby Jesus being worshiped by the Virgin Mary. Painted terracotta was popular in 15th-century Tuscany, where it was typically used for multi-figure religious compositions, arranged as if on a stage. Joseph's meditative pose isolates him from the Virgin and Child and places emphasis on the fact that Joseph, the patron saint of fathers, was not Christ's biological father.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
7586
label
Saint Joseph
core
obj
dtoType
sculpture
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
7586
sourceUrl
contentType
sculpture
stage
normalized
title
Saint Joseph
description
This figure of Saint Joseph was once brightly colored. It was probably part of a Nativity group that included the baby Jesus being worshiped by the Virgin Mary. Painted terracotta was popular in 15th-century Tuscany, where it was typically used for multi-figure religious compositions, arranged as if on a stage. Joseph's meditative pose isolates him from the Virgin and Child and places emphasis on the fact that Joseph, the patron saint of fathers, was not Christ's biological father.
provenance
Thomas Fortune Ryan, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Joseph Brummer [date and mode of acquisition unknown; Brummer Sale, New York, III, 1949, no. 454; Walters Art Museum, June 9, 1949, by purchase.
date
ca. 1475-1500 (early Renaissance)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Sculpture
sculpture (visual works)
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
H: 38 in. (96.5 cm)
Source extras
med
painted terracotta
creator_ids
33562
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
2209
405
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8f655b58ae40532c