COLLECTION NAME:
Brooklyn Museum
Record
title:
Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem (Saint Joseph cherche un gîte à Bethléem)
subject:
art. European Art
date:
1886-1894
creator:
James Tissot
Description:
In the biblical narrative, Mary and Joseph live in Nazareth but must journey to Bethlehem, the ancestral home of Joseph’s family, to be counted in a census imposed by the Romans. On their arrival in the town, Joseph searches for lodgings without success. Tissot contrasts Joseph’s anxious plea—calling up to townspeople in hopes of finding accommodation—with the Virgin Mary’s quiet resignation.
Tissot’s expeditions to the Middle East in the 1880s provided rich source material for his watercolor compositions. The thick masonry walls and labyrinthine alleys of Jaffa, an ancient port city near modern Tel Aviv in Israel, serve here, with minor revisions, as the backdrop of Bethlehem.
Tissot’s expeditions to the Middle East in the 1880s provided rich source material for his watercolor compositions. The thick masonry walls and labyrinthine alleys of Jaffa, an ancient port city near modern Tel Aviv in Israel, serve here, with minor revisions, as the backdrop of Bethlehem.
Object metadata can change over time, please check the Brooklyn Museum object record for the latest information.
Attribution:
The Internet Archive
Link To Source