Jozef en Christus in de werkplaats 1581 - 1633

Curator: Look at this engraving; Theodoor Galle created it sometime between 1581 and 1633. It's entitled "Joseph and Christ in the Workshop". The Rijksmuseum has it now. Editor: Right away, it's striking how…ordinary it feels. I mean, you’d expect some divine light blasting through the window, but it's more like just another day at the carpenter's. Oddly comforting. Curator: Comfort is a good word. Note the inscription at the bottom: "Where the Queen of Heaven earns her bread". Mary is there, overseeing Joseph and Jesus at work. It reframes this scene. Editor: Yes, because you don't often see the Holy Family portrayed with such quotidian realism, do you? All this heavy carpentry, those are serious-looking tools scattered on the floor. The domestic activity also normalizes an archetypal vision in a very humanist fashion. The artist invites an intimate encounter. Curator: And the "sollicita manuum operatio," the busy hands, suggest a sacredness inherent in labor itself, in practical activities. Notice the light halos around the family figures that denote that. Editor: Right. And Joseph is hammering, little Jesus is occupied carving or etching – some sort of precise work, maybe practicing. They are surrounded by all these circular objects that suggest repetitive manufacture, with Mary in the background maybe handling household tasks. It looks like any craftsman’s workspace and hints to their industrious spirit. Curator: It blends the divine with the decidedly earthly and tangible. Editor: A truly radical message for its time! A way to connect religion and work to people's lives perhaps? Curator: Maybe you’re on to something. This is just an unpretentious portrayal of very significant characters during their everyday life, presented via the simple labor required to create their sustenance. Editor: Looking at this, I almost hear the sound of the hammer and the scent of sawdust. These engravers of old knew how to transmit much with seemingly very little.