작품 상세

Viceregal School. Peru. 18th century. “Saint Joseph's dream” Oil on canvas. 120 x 163 cm. In our opinion, our painting has similarities with the painting “San Pedro Nolasco curing a nobleman from Cuzco” from the Cuzco school, which is located in the Convent of La Merced in Peru (https://arcav1.uniandes.edu.co/artworks/3152#). With iconography very typical of Cuzco, this painting is inspired by the biblical passage that narrates St. Joseph´s doubt (Mt. 1, 20): “do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”. Joseph, in that dream, is warned to flee to Egypt to avoid the slaughter of children decreed by Herod, taking the Child and the Virgin Mary with him (Mt 2:13), who appears on the left kneeling, meditative and expectant, with praying hands, contemplating the heavenly apparition. A clearly domestic scene dominates the left of the painting. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary, thrown out of her home in disgrace, prays kneeling beside a period canopied bed and a console table covered with rich cloth, with a bouquet of lilies and roses on it, symbols of Mary. The white one is a symbol of choice, of her virginal purity and abandonment to God's will; the rose, the favourite flower in Heaven according to the Church, for being the most beautiful, the most perfumed in virtues and for being the crown of the Rosary. This all occurs under the gaze of the Holy Spirit. And the semi-tilted Virgin Mary shows her already bulky profile. To the right, but in the background and occupying less area of the picture, the dream of St. Joseph is depicted, sheltered by some trees and birds. A spatial duality that narrates only one scene. This is a painting that is symbolic, with narrative and catechetical expression typical of Cuzco. It ;full of details, vibrant colours and respect for the origin of Jesus Christ, showing His genealogy. It depicts the time before Christ´s mother Mary goes to live with Joseph, who she is engaged to when she conceives a son by the Holy Spirit. Colonial Spanish America. Reference Bibliography: - Cossio del Pomar, F. (1929).'Pintura colonial. Escuela Cuzqueña'. París: Crete, pág. 29.