1689
oil
canvas
From the collection of Norton Simon Museum
St. Joseph and the Infant Christ is a 1689 oil by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, a High Baroque Italian work, depicting Jesus Christ, held at Norton Simon Museum.
The painting depicts a tender scene of an older man cradling an infant in his arms. The man, with a long white beard and hair, wears a reddish-brown robe over a purple garment. He gently holds the baby, who is wrapped in a white cloth, with his right hand supporting the infant's back and his left hand under the baby's bottom. The baby reaches up to touch the man's face. The man's facial expression is one of gentle affection and devotion. The background of the painting is dark, which helps to focus attention on the central figures. This painting showcases the use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects and figures.
Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio or Baciccia (Genoese nicknames for Giovanni Battista), was an Italian Baroque painter working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods.
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