Francisco Antonio Meléndez

FRANCISCO ANTONIO MELÉNDEZ (Oviedo, 1682-Madrid, 1758)
"Saint Joseph with the Child.
Gouache on paper.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century with glass Museum.
Measurements: 26.5 x 19 cm; 49 x 43 cm (frame).
This work, attributed to Francisco Antonio Meléndez (1682-1758), is a gouache on paper representing St. Joseph with the Child Jesus. The composition is developed within a golden pictorial frame, in which the main scene is inscribed, giving the image an ornamental and devotional character.
Saint Joseph, with a majestic figure and wrapped in an ochre mantle and a greenish blue tunic, lovingly holds the Child, who rests on his left arm in a serene attitude. The saint's face reflects tenderness and contemplation, while the Child Jesus, dressed in a white tunic and blue mantle, looks at him with trusting gaze, underlining the paternal bond between them. Above them, cherubs float among clouds, surrounded by a subtle luminous aura that reinforces the sacredness of the scene.
The background of the landscape introduces symbolic elements typical of Josephine iconography: ordered gardens, fountains and classical architecture that suggest an idealized environment, linked to purity and divine protection. In the foreground, on the left, a serpent coiled under an orb is bitten by a reptile, alluding to victory over evil and redemption. On the right, St. Joseph's flowered staff rests on a rock, evoking the tradition according to which his staff miraculously blossomed as a sign of his divine election as Mary's husband.
The gouache technique allows the artist to achieve a great chromatic richness and a softness in the details, characteristics that refer to miniaturist painting and to the tradition of religious illustration in the 18th century. This work, due to its delicacy and refinement, falls within the field of devotional art, intended both for pious contemplation and the exaltation of the figure of Saint Joseph within the Christian cult.