Guido Reni – Saint Joseph and the Christ Child – 1638-1640 Oil on Canvas SEP 22 RELEASE DATE

This intimate portrayal of Joseph demonstrates Reni’s skill through his rendering of the foster father of Christ as a simple man tenderly holding his infant son. The fruit held by infant Jesus reminds us of the fall of man in Eden and the fruitfulness of redemption through the advent of Christianity.

He was the most famous Italian painter of his day, revered for the grace and naturalness of his serenely balanced compositions. Even referred to as “the divine Guido.”

Working during the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the seventeenth century, Reni depicted images of saints and holy figures in the humanized and accessible form Catholic leaders required. This intimate portrayal of Joseph demonstrates Reni’s skill through his rendering of the foster father of Christ as a simple man tenderly holding his infant son.