Italian school of the 18th century. Attributed to FRANCESCO DE MURA (Naples 1696 -1782). "Saint Joseph with Child". Oil on canvas. Measurements: 75 x 63 cm; 93 x 81 cm (frame). Image of devotional character whose protagonists are Saint Joseph and the Child, who are placed in the centre of the composition, on a dark and neutral background. Contrary to what happens in representations of this theme, father and son do not look at each other, but each looks away from the other towards the horizon. The work has no other distracting elements, except for the white flowers which are the iconographic symbol of Joseph. Until the Counter-Reformation, the figure of Saint Joseph was usually kept in the background, as no theological importance was attached to him. After Trent, however, his leading role as the protector of Jesus during his childhood and as a guide during his youth was recovered, and he is depicted here as such. In contrast to the tenderness, defencelessness and candour of the infant figure, Saint Joseph is presented as a monumental, typically Baroque figure, an impression that is reinforced by the pyramidal composition of the image. Through this form of representation, the author visually emphasises the decisive role of Jesus putative father as protector. From its stylistic characteristics, this work can be attributed to Francesco de Mura, an Italian painter of the late Baroque period, mainly active in Naples and Turin. After training in the studio of Domenico Viola, in 1708 he joined the studio of Francesco Solimena, where he remained until 1730, and where the influence of Solimena and his pictorial technique can be seen particularly in Mura s early works, such as Christ Dead on the Cross with Saint John, painted in 1713 for the church of San Girolamo alle Monache, and those executed in the early 1720s. From 1728 onwards, however, with the works executed for the church of Santa Maria Donnaromita, a change in style can be seen, tending towards a much more personal pictorial conception, although his work was always strongly linked to the subject matter of the Arcadian scholars, in vogue in Naples at the time. Between 1741 and 1743 he remained in Turin, where he met the architect Benedetto Alfieri and the painter Corrado Giaquinto. He subsequently returned to Naples, where he maintained contact with painters active in Rome, particularly the Frenchman Pierre Subleyras, and was so highly regarded that he was summoned to Madrid to work for the Spanish court. With his chromatic technique and realistic content, typical of Rococo classicism, he greatly influenced the artistic circles of the Neapolitan "Settecento". The Baroque school, particularly in the wake of Francesco Solimena and Luca Giordano, is evident both in his works of a secular nature, such as the frescoes painted for the royal palaces in Turin and Naples, and in the works painted for the church, such as the Epiphany in the church of the Nunziatella in Naples, the Multiplication of the loaves in the cathedral of Foggia and the canvas of Saint Placido in the church of Poggio Imperiale.