Catholicism – JOSEPH THE CARPENTER

Reflecting on the role and perception of Joseph the Carpenter in Western Society: Some Initial Thoughts

While it is tempting to approach the topic of Joseph the Carpenter as the distinguished scholar Jaroslav Pelikan approached the topics of Jesus Through the Centuries and Mary Through the Centuries, and “present, in roughly chronological order, a series of distinct but related vignettes … both in their continuity and in their development …,” such an approach to this subject would be more problematic than helpful because, unlike Jesus and Mary, Joseph has been, curiously, largely, ignored by both the worlds of academic scholarship and the Christian church.¹ It would also be more problematic since (unlike Pelikan) I do intend to reflect on both who Joseph was understood to be according to the earliest Christians as well as (like Pelikan) who he has “been experienced and understood to be …” in later Christian thought and art.²

Philip Jacobs teaches Art History at Newberry College, South Carolina. Prior to this, he taught in the Humanities Department at Cape Fear Community College and in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, North Carolina. In addition to 18 years as a professor, he has been awarded grants for his research in different aspects of art history, including for his work concerning the historical reception of Joseph of Nazareth in Christian literature and art.

He is the author of several books, e-books, and journal articles, including A Guide to the Study of Greco-Roman and Jewish and Christian History and Literature, The Life and Photography of Doris Ulmann, a Glossary of Foreign Terms for the Study of Works of Art on Paper and Books, Joseph the Carpenter: His Reception in Literature and Art from the Second to the Ninth Century, and The Other Person in the Picture: The Portrayal and Interpretation of Joseph the Carpenter.