Tod des Hl. Joseph

Under Emperor Leopold I the Habsburg lands were placed under the patronage of St. Joseph. Thus began veneration of scenes from his life for which there are no accounts in the Gospels, such as his glorification in death: Christ approaches the dying saint, offering his blessing, while Mary looks on in devotion. Maratta, the leading figure of the Roman school in the Late Baroque period, created this monumental altarpiece for the chapel of the dowager empress Eleonora Gonzaga, the stepmother of Leopold I, in Vienna’s Hofburg.