At the museum,
a pensive Joseph
gazes down at his infant son,
father's soft, brown beard
against the baby's cheek,
their skin impossibly smooth and porcelain fragile.

Joseph's brocaded, burgundy robe
embraces them both.
Thin lines of gold radiate outward
from behind their heads,
and they are framed by a rectangle of pink and white flowers–
tulips, roses and peonies.

The painting also offers a spray of weakly blooming lilies,
held in Joseph's left hand,
the same hand with which he cradles the child's neck and head.
The baby smiles out at us,
unaware of the lily's many meanings–
purity, Trinity, joy,
separation, loss and sorrow…

It is an image of unbearable tenderness.

(St.  Joseph and the Christ Child, artist unknown, Peru, early 1700s) Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.