Saint Joseph and the Infant Jesus
1763. Taille douce: etching and engraving on wove paper.Not on display
Iconographic representations of Saint Joseph mostly show him accompanied by the Infant Jesus, as in the monumental sculpture by Alonso Cano in the Museo de Bellas Artes in Granada. Usually appears in paintings with his carpentry tools as distinguishing features, as the multifaceted Cano had portrayed him. The fortunes of Cano’s painted composition, there is evidence of how it continued to enjoy influence over time. In 1763 Manuel Salvador Carmona (1734–1820) depicted the same subject in a copperplate etching (G005604) and this engraving, now in the Museo del Prado, which included the same box of instruments raised to the status of distinguishing feature of the saintly patriarch. The resulting print was used for the title page of a new 1780 edition of father Jerónimo Gracián’s book about Saint Joseph .
Arias Martínez, Manuel, Darse la mano. Escultura y color en el Siglo de Oro, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2024, p.249
