St. Joseph’s Dream
around 1773/74 | Anton Raphael Mengs
In the classic thinker’s pose, his head leaning heavily on his arm, Joseph receives instructions from God whilst asleep: he is to lead into Egypt Mary and the Infant Jesus, to escape Herod’s henchmen. The clear composition, the frontal depiction which emphasises contours, the unemotional representation all show the classicist painter as overcoming the Baroque art of illusion and staging. While Mengs in his drive to innovate starts out from antiquity and Raphael, there is also an echo of Correggio’s sfumato painting in the soft sensualism of his pictures.
In the classic thinker’s pose, his head leaning heavily on his arm, Joseph receives instructions from God whilst asleep: he is to lead into Egypt Mary and the Infant Jesus, to escape Herod’s henchmen. The clear composition, the frontal depiction which emphasises contours, the unemotional representation all show the classicist painter as overcoming the Baroque art of illusion and staging. While Mengs in his drive to innovate starts out from antiquity and Raphael, there is also an echo of Correggio’s sfumato painting in the soft sensualism of his pictures.
Artist:
Anton Raphael Mengs (1728 Aussig - 1779 Rom) DNB
Time:
around 1773/74
Object Name
Painting
Culture
German
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
114 cm × 86 cm
Framed: 135,5 cm × 109,2 cm × 11,5 cm
Gewicht: 32 kg
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 124
Provenance
Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Grand Ducal Collection, Pal. Pitti; 1796 in the gallery
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