TIME Photo Essay: The Art of Joseph: Joseph's limited profile in Scripture eventually inspired his admirers to greater feats of pious interpretation, resulting in a colorful and varied cavalcade of carpenters. Rest on the Flight to Egypt, c. 17th century, Simone Cantarini. Another way of showing Joseph as somehow "apart" was to picture him asleep, which was also a reference to his prophetic dreams. The convention of Joseph as an old man dates back to early non-Biblical Christan books called the apocrypha, which placed his age as high as 91, presumably so that Mary's virginity was more plausible. PHOTO BY PHOTO BY ERICH LESSING / ART RESOURCE
PHOTO BY ERICH LESSING / ART RESOURCE
The Art of Joseph: Joseph's limited profile in Scripture eventually inspired his admirers to greater feats of pious interpretation, resulting in a colorful and varied cavalcade of carpenters
No Spring Chicken
Rest on the Flight to Egypt, c. 17th century, Simone Cantarini. Another way of showing Joseph as somehow "apart" was to picture him asleep, which was also a reference to his prophetic dreams. The convention of Joseph as an old man dates back to early non-Biblical Christan books called the apocrypha, which placed his age as high as 91, presumably so that Mary's virginity was more plausible
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FROM THE December 19, 2005 ISSUE OF TIME MAGAZINE; POSTED Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Copyright © 2005 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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