Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

Black, Charlene Villaseñor

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Description: Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

BOOKCreating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

Charlene Villaseñor Black

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22054

St. Joseph is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament Gospels. Prior to the late medieval period, Church doctrine rarely noticed him except in passing. But in 1555 this humble carpenter, earthly spouse of the Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus, was made patron of the Conquest and conversion in Mexico. In 1672, King Charles II of Spain named St. Joseph patron of his kingdom, toppling St. James—traditional protector of the Iberian peninsula for over 800 years—from his honored position. Focusing on the changing manifestations of Holy Family and St. Joseph imagery in Spain and colonial Mexico from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, this book examines the genesis of a new saint's cult after centuries of obscurity. In so doing, it elucidates the role of the visual arts in creating gender discourses and deploying them in conquest, conversion, and colonization.

Charlene Villaseñor Black examines numerous images and hundreds of primary sources in Spanish, Latin, Náhuatl, and Otomí. She finds that St. Joseph was not only the most frequently represented saint in Spanish Golden Age and Mexican colonial art, but also the most important. In Spain, St. Joseph was celebrated as a national icon and emblem of masculine authority in a society plagued by crisis and social disorder. In the Americas, the parental figure of the saint—model father, caring spouse, hardworking provider—became the perfect paradigm of Spanish colonial power.

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph exposes the complex interactions among artists, the Catholic Church and Inquisition, the Spanish monarchy, and colonial authorities. One of the only sustained studies of masculinity in early modern Spain, it also constitutes a rare comparative study of Spain and the Americas.

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Print publication date January 2006 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780691096315

EISBN 9780300266344

Illustrations 92

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Nativity
St. Joseph in the Carpenter's Workshop
St. Joseph Arrives in the New World
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
The Water God Tlaloc
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
Holy Family with Little Bird
Holy Family with Saint Anne
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Betrothal
Betrothal
Betrothal
Betrothal
Betrothal
Betrothal
Dream of St. Joseph
Dream of St. Joseph
Dream of St. Joseph
Jacob's Dream
Holy Family
Holy Family
Holy Family of the Bird
Holy Family
Holy Family
Holy Family
St. Anne, St. Joachim, and the Virgin Mary
St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read
Holy Family
Circumcision of Christ
Holy Family
Vision of St. Felix of Cantalice
The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt
Holy Family/Earthly Trinity
Holy Family/Earthly Trinity
Coronation of the Holy Family
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
St. Joseph and the Christ Child/Holy Family
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Saint John the Baptist Pointing to Christ
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
Holy Family/Cinco Señores
St. Joseph before Mary
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Sleeping Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Madonna and Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Virgin of the Rosary
Madonna and Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Madonna and Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Madonna and Child
The Virgin and Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
St. Joseph and the Child Jesus
St. Joseph and the Christ Child
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Workshop in Nazareth
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Workshop in Nazareth
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Holy Family in the Carpenter's Workshop
Death of St. Joseph
Death of St. Joseph
Saint Bonaventure on His Bier
Death of St. Joseph
Blessing of Jacob
Coronation of St. Joseph
Coronation of St. Joseph
Coronation of St. Joseph
St. Joseph's Protection
St. Joseph and the Co-Regents of Zacatecas

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Contents

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

Contents

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22055

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Acknowledgments

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~ACKNOWLEDGING THOSE who offered assistance during the process of writing this book, as well as the various institutions that provided financial backing and other aid, is a highlight of the writing endeavor. I am grateful to the following organizations for their support of this study: the Millard Meiss Publication Committee of the College Art Association, the Andrew W....

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22056

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Introduction

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~IN 1555 St. Joseph—humble carpenter, earthly spouse of the Virgin Mary, and foster father of Jesus—was made patron of the Conquest and conversion in Mexico, a position he held until 1746, when the Virgin of Guadalupe was elevated as his co-patroness. In 1679 King Charles II of Spain named St. Joseph patron of his kingdom, toppling Santiago, or...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.13-19

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22057

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintPainting, SpanishPainting, MexicanIcons--CultJesus Christ--Family

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Chapter 1. Creating the Cult of St. Joseph

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

IN THE EYES of seventeenth-century Hispanic theologians, St. Joseph was the most powerful saint of the Catholic church. In status and holiness he ranked second only to his holy wife, Mary, and his foster Son, Jesus. Since Joseph intervened on behalf of worshippers with both his foster Son and his wife, and since...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.21-39

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22058

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintMexico--History--Spanish colony, 1540-1810DevotionConversion--Christianity

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Chapter 2. Love and Marriage

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~IN A 1633 SERMON dedicated to...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.41-57

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22059

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintPainting, SpanishPainting, Mexican

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Chapter 3. Happy Families

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~ON THE SURFACE, early modern Spanish and colonial Mexican images of the Holy Family, which depict Mary, Joseph, and Jesus engaged in the apparently mundane tasks of daily life, seem to proclaim the joys of domestic bliss. The representational strategies employed, such as the attempts to replicate the effects of reality, encourage the beholder to naturalize and...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.59-87

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22060

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintJesus Christ--FamilyPainting, SpanishPainting, MexicanPatriarchy--Religious aspects--Catholic Church

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Chapter 4. Mothering Fathers

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~SPANISH AND MEXICAN RENDITIONS of St. Joseph and the Christ Child depict the Holy Foster Father tenderly cradling the baby Jesus in his arms or protectively holding Him. Father and Son lovingly gaze into each other’s eyes, embrace affectionately, kiss each other. In some images, the young Jesus obediently follows His earthly father, His small hand enveloped by...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.89-115

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22061

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintFatherhood--Religious aspects--Catholic ChurchMary, Blessed Virgin, Saint--ArtPainting, SpanishPainting, Mexican

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Chapter 5. Men at Work

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

MANY PAINTERS produced depictions of the carpenter’s workshop in early modern Spain and colonial Mexico, including such artists as Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Jusepe de Ribera, Juan de Valdés Leal (1662–90), Alonso Cano, Juan Tinoco (1617–88), and others. The images featured St. Joseph in his role as hardworking artisan, representing the saint toiling away at his...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.117-133

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22062

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintPainting, SpanishPainting, MexicanConfraternities

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Chapter 6. The Good Death

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~INSTEAD OF DYING a glorious martyr’s death, Catholicism’s most exalted fate, St. Joseph instead expired from natural causes. Spanish and Mexican images of St. Joseph’s last moments depict the aged, bed-ridden saint during his final illness with Mary and...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.135-156

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22063

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintDeathPainting, SpanishPainting, MexicanCoronations

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Chapter 7. Epilogue

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~THE SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MOVEMENT to elevate St. Joseph as protector of Spain reached its apex in 1679, when King Carlos II of Spain declared Joseph the patron of all Spanish dominions. In Mexico, the news was reportedly...

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.157-158

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00281.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22064

Chapter subject tags:Joseph, SaintDevotion

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