Guido Reni, St. Joseph and Child

Description

The innovation of Reni's representation sees the figure of St. Joseph portrayed alone with the baby Jesus in her arms. This representation was in the past reserved for Mary. Joseph had always been mostly a secondary figure, mostly represented in the account of the Flight into Egypt. The most famous paintings by Guido Reni with St. Joseph holding his Son to date are three. Some believe that this subject also refers to a moment of a "Rest during the flight into Egypt". In fact, both in the St. Joseph of the Hermitage, Mary on the donkey and the angel appear in the distance in the background behind Joseph's mantle, referable to the same sacred episode. The image that Guido Reni gives us is that of a more current father, a "Just" man, a caring and present father who with his life has guarded that of Mary and Jesus, the precious treasures that God has entrusted to him.