On September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is celebrated by the Christian family as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the beginning of the Season of Creation, which concludes on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on October 4. During this period, Christians worldwide renew their faith in the God of creation and join in prayer and work for the care of our common home. Click here to learn more.

ARTIST
Cuzco School

MEDIUM
Oil on canvas

PLACE MADE
Peru

DATES
late 17th-18th century

COLLECTION
Brooklyn Museum

In the 16th century Christianity spread to the Western Hemisphere and this resulted in the birth of a new Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru – the Escuela Cuzquena or Cusco (Cuzco) School. Cusco was the first artistic centre where European painting techniques where taught in the Americas. Jesuits introduced the fashionable art from Spain and Flanders, and Andean artisans made it their own – bringing lush color, elaborate garments and rich adornment common to Incan art.

For the first time, St. Joseph is regularly depicted not as a peripheral character or supportive reflection of Mary, but rather at the centre of the work, with his own rich royal garb in keeping with the Christ child’s regal status surrounded by regional flowers. The bright red sandals worn by the Christ child are the same as those worn by indigenous Inca elites. St. Joseph was a figure with whom new Christian believers could relate and increasingly faithful fathers turned to him for intercession on behalf of their families and marriages. 

Click here to see more art featuring Saint Joseph and to learn more about the Special Year of Saint Joseph.