Saint Joseph and the Christ Child

1645 - 1650. Grey-brown wash, Pencil on laid paper.
Not on display

This beautifully finished drawing depicts Saint Joseph and the Christ Child walking through a landscape. A tree situated to the right appears just behind Saint Joseph. The Christ Child carries a large basket and Saint Joseph, a rod. He holds the child by the wrist, a detail specifically found in various versions of this theme produced by Cantarini, Elsheimer and Sánchez Cotán. It is possible that Cano may have seen some or all of these sources as well as other works influenced by them.

Cano painted Saint Joseph and the Christ Child on several occasions and sculpted them at least once, even though none of the works that have survived reflect the composition of this drawing. Nevertheless, according to Palomino, it is very possible that the drawing is related to the small altarpiece in the church of San Ginés in Madrid. Both the scale and the technique employed in this sheet exhibit many similarities with The Annunciation (D3819). Therefore, it has been dated 1645–50.

Veliz, Zahira, Alonso Cano (1601-1667): dibujos, Santander, Fundación Marcelino Botín, 2009, p.254-255; nº 34

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Weekly sessions in English: “Saint Bernard and the Virgin”, by Alonso Cano (1645-1652)

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The exhibition Spanish Drawings from the Hamburger Kunsthalle: Cano, Murillo and Goya

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Inventory number: D000074
Author: Alonso Cano
Title: Saint Joseph and the Christ Child
Date: 1645 - 1650
Technique: Grey-brown wash; Pencil
Support: Laid paper
Dimension: Height: 131 mm; Width: 97 mm
Provenance: Collection of Ceán Bermúdez; Collection of Lefort; Bequest of Pedro Fernández Durán y Bernaldo de Quirós, 1931
Entry date: 1931

Bibliography +

Catalogue de la collection de dessins anciens de maîtres espagnols, flamands, français, hollandais et italiens, pièces rares de l'oeuvre de Goya: composant le cabinet de M. Paul Lefort, [s.n], París, 1869, pp. nº 37.

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Dibujos Españoles. Alonso Cano, IV, Hauser y Menet, Madrid, 1930, pp. 355.

Martínez Chumillas, Manuel, Alonso Cano: estudio monográfico de la obra del insigne que fue de la catedral de Granada, Carlos Jaime, Madrid, 1949, pp. 103 y 105.

Wethey, Harold, Alonso Cano's drawings, The Art Bulletin, 34, 1952, pp. 231, nº XXXI.

Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Catálogo de Dibujos. Vol. I. Dibujos españoles siglos XV-XVII, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1972, pp. 58.

Wethey, H.E., Los Dibujos de Alonso Cano.Separata, Universidad de Granada, Granada, 1979, pp. 554-555.

Wethey, Harold, Alonso Cano: pintor, escultor y arquitecto, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1983, pp. 164, nº 41 / lám. 5.

Véliz, Zahira, Alonso Cano's Drawings and Related Works, Courtald Institute-London Univ., Londres, 1998, pp. nº 30.

Alonso Cano dibujos, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2001, pp. 143, nº 31.

Rodríguez Rebollo, Ángel, En torno a Alonso Cano: revisión de algunos dibujos madrileños, Madrid: revista de arte, geografía e historia., n.8, 2006, pp. 247-277 [274].

Veliz, Zahira, Alonso Cano (1601-1667): dibujos, Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander, 2009, pp. 254-255; nº 34.