The Earthly Trinity

This sculpture group represents The Earthly Trinity or The Journey of the Holy Family, an iconography associated with the veneration of Saint Joseph as an exemplary father, promoted by Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint Ignatius of Loyola during the Counter-Reformation.
It shows the boy Jesus holding his mother’s hand, being led by her and Saint Joseph on their way back to Nazareth from Egypt. The figures of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph are leaning towards the Christ Child, a pose that follows the curvature of the ivory tusk from which the central segment was carved, suggesting a walking motion; Saint Joseph’s empty left hand would have held a staff with a blooming lily or iris, symbol of chastity and purity.
This Hispano-Filipino piece is attributed to the Sangleys, Chinese artisans living in the Philippines who carved small and medium-sized ivory images intended primarily for private and monastic devotion. These images were exported from Manila to the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico) aboard the China Galleons, and from there to Seville by the West Indies or Spanish Treasure Fleet.