St. Joseph depicted as “The Light”
18th century
Oil on canvas
Height 81" Width 56" framed
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe, NM
This is an unusual depiction of the scene usually represented as ‘Our Lady of Light’ with the Virgin Mary presented with a charger of lighted candles. In this depiction, a figure of St Joseph takes the place of the Virgin, his flowering staff to the left, held by an angel. The print source for the Virgin as the subject is a 1753 engraving by Juan Bernabé Palomino and the iconography is explored by Rebecca Carretero Calvo (in Spanish)
La Madre Santísima de la Luz en Aragón, simbolismo de una iconografía jesuítica prohibida (dpz.es)
Some artists working in the Americas took liberties with the canons of iconography that would not have been permitted in Europe, and actually considered blasphemous.This depiction may have been a commission for private devotion.
18th century
Oil on canvas
Height 81" Width 56" framed
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe, NM
This is an unusual depiction of the scene usually represented as ‘Our Lady of Light’ with the Virgin Mary presented with a charger of lighted candles. In this depiction, a figure of St Joseph takes the place of the Virgin, his flowering staff to the left, held by an angel. The print source for the Virgin as the subject is a 1753 engraving by Juan Bernabé Palomino and the iconography is explored by Rebecca Carretero Calvo (in Spanish)
La Madre Santísima de la Luz en Aragón, simbolismo de una iconografía jesuítica prohibida (dpz.es)
Some artists working in the Americas took liberties with the canons of iconography that would not have been permitted in Europe, and actually considered blasphemous.This depiction may have been a commission for private devotion.
18th century
Oil on canvas
Height 81" Width 56" framed
Provenance: Private collection, Santa Fe, NM
This is an unusual depiction of the scene usually represented as ‘Our Lady of Light’ with the Virgin Mary presented with a charger of lighted candles. In this depiction, a figure of St Joseph takes the place of the Virgin, his flowering staff to the left, held by an angel. The print source for the Virgin as the subject is a 1753 engraving by Juan Bernabé Palomino and the iconography is explored by Rebecca Carretero Calvo (in Spanish)
La Madre Santísima de la Luz en Aragón, simbolismo de una iconografía jesuítica prohibida (dpz.es)
Some artists working in the Americas took liberties with the canons of iconography that would not have been permitted in Europe, and actually considered blasphemous.This depiction may have been a commission for private devotion.