Who painted St. Joachim?

St. Joachim was painted by Michaelina Wautier in 1650.

Where can I see St. Joachim?

St. Joachim is held by Kunsthistorisches Museum.

What movement is St. Joachim?

St. Joachim is associated with Flemish Baroque painting.

St. Joachim by Michaelina Wautier (1650) · Meaning & Museum

About this work

This oil painting shows Saint Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary. He holds a book, a sign of his work as a linen trader. Michaelina Wautier painted it in 1650.

Wautier was one of the few women making big history paintings at the time. Her work stands out in a field mostly run by men.

Look up Michaelina Wautier next.

Subject & Meaning

The composition features the saint holding a book, an attribute that serves as a specific symbol referencing his role as a representative of linen traders.

Michaelina Wautier's painting depicts Saint Joachim, identified in tradition as the father of the Virgin Mary. The composition features the saint holding a book, an attribute that serves as a specific symbol referencing his role as a representative of linen traders. This iconographic choice visually connects the religious figure to his earthly profession.

Created during the mid-17th century, the work functioned as part of a religious collection owned by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, who possessed at least four paintings by the artist. The image remains in Austria today within the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Technique & Style

Executed in oil paint on canvas, this work measures 80 cm in height and 46 cm in width. The composition features the figure of Saint Joachim holding a book, an attribute symbolizing his role as a representative of linen traders. Stylistically, the piece is categorized as a religious painting within the Flemish tradition.

Created during the mid-17th century, specifically dated to 1650 or the period extending to 1655, the artwork demonstrates the artist's engagement with devotional subjects through a direct, figural approach.

History & Provenance

The painting Saint Joachim was created by Michaelina Wautier around 1650–1655, as indicated by its inception date and stylistic dating. It was commissioned by or entered the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, forming part of a series of at least four religious works owned by him. The artwork remains in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is cataloged as part of their holdings.

The composition depicts Saint Joachim, father of the Virgin Mary, holding a book, a symbolic attribute associated with linen traders. The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, measuring 80 cm in height and 46 cm in width.

The painting Saint Joachim by Michaelina Wautier is held in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. It bears the inventory number 2009/999 and was acquired as part of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm collection. The work was displayed in the exhibition "The Art of the Flemish Baroque" at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2015.

It has also been included in the exhibition "Flemish Masters of the 17th Century" at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2020.

Context

Saint Joachim holds a notable position within the small surviving corpus of Michaelina Wautier, a Flemish artist whose religious output has attracted renewed scholarly attention. The work was painted between 1650 and 1655 and entered the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, joining at least three other Wautier paintings, The Triumph of Bacchus, Saint Joseph, and Saint Joachim Reading a Book, in the archduke's holdings. Its presence in this prestigious Habsburg collection situates the painting within the broader seventeenth-century taste for Flemish devotional images among aristocratic patrons.

The painting remained in Austria after the dispersal of Leopold Wilhelm's collection and today hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, a circumstance that has helped sustain its visibility in the historiography of Flemish Baroque art.

Overview

Michaelina Wautier’s oil painting of Saint Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, dates from the early 1650s. Executed between 1650 and 1655, the work portrays the saint holding an open book, an attribute linked to his historical role as a linen merchant. The canvas remains in Vienna, displayed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum as part of the former Archduke Leopold Wilhelm collection.

Bildnis eines alten Mannes, Januarius Zick

Artist & collection

Artist

Michaelina Wautier

Michaelina Wautier, also Woutiers (c. 1614–1689), was a painter from the Southern Netherlands. Only since the start of the 21st century has her work been recognized as that of the outstanding female artist of Flemish…