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Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph is the patron saint of house hunters, fathers, carpenters and the universal church.

A carpenter by trade, he was the Virgin Mary’s husband. He searched for a place to stay in Bethlehem when Mary was about to give birth to Jesus, but there was no room for them at the inn (Luke 2:4-7).

 

Workshop of the Master of 1518, The Flight into Egypt, about 1515 

 

The Flight into Egypt
from Two Panels from an Altarpiece
Workshop of Goossen van der Weyden
about 1516
Painting
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Explore more images of Saint Joseph in the collection

The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Pieter Lastman
Room 24
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Master of the Female Half-Lengths
The holy family rest as they flee from Bethlehem to Egypt, trying to escape King Herod’s order that all boys under two be killed. Mary sits on a low wall that encloses a courtyard and a fountain. She has opened her dress and chemise to reveal her right breast, evidently to feed her son. Saint Jos...
Not on display
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Moretto da Brescia
This is one of four panels that originally made up a pair of painted shutters to cover a central image, probably of the Virgin Mary crowned in the heavens. The outside of each shutter was decorated with a saint, the inside with an angel. When the shutters were closed, Saint Joseph would have been...
Not on display
The Dream of Saint Joseph
The Dream of Saint Joseph
Philippe de Champaigne
According to the Gospel of Matthew, an angel appears to the Virgin Mary’s husband, Joseph, in a dream. Champaigne shows the angel gesturing towards both heaven and the Virgin Mary, confirming that Christ has been conceived through the Holy Ghost. Kneeling in front of an open Bible, Mary glances t...
Not on display
The Virgin adoring the Child with Saint Joseph
The Virgin adoring the Child with Saint Joseph
Fra Bartolommeo
In this painting intended for private devotion, Fra Bartolommeo emphasises the humble circumstances of Christ’s birth. The Virgin kneels on the ground before the newborn Christ, while barefoot Saint Joseph watches over the baby. The makeshift stable made from the ruins of a classical building sta...
Room 10