The Ministry of Saint Joseph

The work of José de Alcíbar has been accused of being sentimental, as have most of the paintings produced in the XVIIIth century. The artist divided this large-scale work into two parts, the human and the divine. The upper part is occupied by God the Father, the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove, and Saint Joseph, who is holding his putative son, the infant Jesus. Through the offices of an angel, these three figures are distributing the gifts with which they favor their devotees. The donors of the work -three priests of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, of whom two are José Gómez de Escontría and Juan José González- are prominently portrayed in the bottom right-hand corner. Their presence makes a great deal of sense, since this piece was commissioned by the Philippine fathers to commemorate the transfer of their congregation from its old seat, damaged by an earthquake in 1768, to the Casa Profesa (i.e. the headquarters of the Jesuit order in México). Notable among the persons receiving the bounties of heaven are, in the bottom left-hand corner, a sinful woman who scarcely dares to look at the saint, and, in the center, the figure of a beggar, interestingly foreshortened so that we can make out, amid the dark background, a dying man accompanied by his wife. Behind the donors is an obelisk engraved with numerous hieroglyphics, crowned by a Bengal light inserted in a sheath of palm fronds. This item, symbolizing "political wisdom and good government", can be taken as an allusion to the monarch, Charles III, and his capable handling of the affairs of his realm. This work entered the MUNAL as part of its founding endowment in 1982.