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St. Joseph and the Christ Child in the Carpentry Workshop,
Fresco by Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988),
Contemporary fresco at the Church of San Lorenzo, Firenze
Executed in 1963
© Christian Art Today |
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home. |
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| Reflection on the Church Fresco
Unfortunately very little is known about St Joseph but what a holy man he was! As we saw in yesterday’s reading, He was of the genealogy of King David. In today’s reading we see how respectfully Matthew writes about Joseph. As he was engaged to Mary, she was found, quite unexpectedly, to be pregnant. But Joseph, ‘being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity’, planned to dissolve his betrothal quietly. But an angel appeared to him and joyfully explained what the situation was: do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. What we see on full display in Jospeh is how understanding, considerate, compassionate he is towards Mary, even before Jesus was born.
As I was a furniture specialist myself at Sotheby’s for over 14 years, I love the art of carpentry. I can well imagine how Joseph lovingly showed Jesus how to make a chair, how to select the right woods, how to cut everything to the perfect size so the table could fit together, etc… This would have been a very valuable education for Jesus. Learning a trade with patience, love for the materials nature gave us, charging honest prices, delivering in time, etc etc…
Today’s artwork is a fresco on the walls of Church of San Lorenzo, Firenze. So please imagine the size of this painting; as a viewer we participate in the workshop. We are there with Joseph and his son. Sadly, the wood beam at the front already points towards Jesus’ fate when He will be crucified later on the cross. St Joseph had an essential role in the Incarnation, when God became man. Just like Our Lady. He received the message of an angel, and Our Lord could not have been born if he had not said ‘yes’, freely and willingly after he saw the angel… he followed his heart and listened to God… He trusted completely in the angel’s words ‘do not be afraid’, and changed the course of history forever…
by Patrick van der Vorst |  | |
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