www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Help with Saint Joseph Icon

I was needing some help finding a download of a photograph of an older icon of Saint Joseph, my preference would be before 1100 A.D. or so. Of course, I have already tried myself, but nothing fit the bill or I could not get the date of the icon sourced; in fact, I tried looking for around FOUR HOURS.

The icon could be a fresco or painting, but I would like it to be a photograph of an original, and not a reproduction work that is photographed. If anyone can help, I sincerely thank you.

May God Bless you, your families, friends, your foes and unknowns... pets, animals and all creatures great and small that anyone may come in contact with.

Perhaps, my blessing overreaches a bit, but I mean it.

No such icon of St. Joseph alone exists in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

I don't know how you know that, but I suspected this might be the case in many traditions. On the other hand, you use the phrasing Eastern Orthodox, I'm not ruling out Byzantine Catholics, Eastern Rites or even Coptic, as Coptic icons would be valid, I suppose, as long as it did not depict something unique to Coptics that would violate Catholic theology and/or doctrine.

"No such icon of St. Joseph alone exists in the Eastern Orthodox tradition."

Not true. Icons of St. Jospeh, alone holding two turtle doves, can be found. Here is an Antiochian Orthodox example, although not pre-1104:
http://www.saintjosephorthodox.org/albums/iconostasis.htm

Fr. Deacon Lance

Benny,

I think you'll be hard-pressed to find what you want. Prior to the Middle Ages, St Joseph is rarely - if ever - depicted outside of the grouping of the Holy Family or, at the least, with the Child Jesus. That is true of all traditions, Latin, Eastern, and Oriental.

As I recollect, the Latin Church may have been the earliest to give much attention to him in his own right - for which, shame on us, but it is the reality of things. I can point you to a few older icons, but I can't think of one in that time-frame which depicts only him.

Many years,

Neil

Benny,

Would a detail of an icon of the Nativity serve your purpose?

Benny,
I doubt this is what you want, but the Printery House has a couple of icons of St. Joseph holding the Christ child. Here's a link: http://www.printeryhouse.org/ProdPage.asp?Prod=M15&cat=556

This is the icon that my wife and I have in our bedroom. It is a modern icon that comes from Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

http://www.serfes.org/lives/stjoseph.htm

God bless,

Gordo

There is, of course, more than one Saint named Joseph! One can find icons of Saint Joseph the All-Comely (the one who was sold into slavery in Egypt and ended up running the country), Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (and there are at least two Hymnographer Saints named Joseph), Saint Joseph the New Martyr (Turkey), and so on. But I suspect you are looking for Saint Joseph the Betrothed - the husband of the Theotokos and probable father of Saint James, Brother of the Lord.

There is a lovely icon of Saint Joseph the Betrothed - with the two turtle-doves - on the Icon-Screen at the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Saint Sophia Catholicon in Rome. There is also a nice small paper-back book (on high quality paper) showing the icons in the Catholicon, which can probably be obtained from the Ukrainian bookshops in your vicinity. If that doesn't work, get back to me and I'll have one sent to you.

with every blessing,

Fr. Serge

I should have qualified my previous answer by stating that no icon in the Eastern Orthodox tradtion exists of St. Joseph the Betrothed in time period requested.
I do not consider the icons others have mentioned to be in this time frame, or even to be part of the Eastern Orthodox iconographical tradition. Different traditions have developed in the Roman Catholic and hence the Eastern Catholic tradtions regarding St. Joseph the betrothed.
I do not consider some of the modern icons of Councilior Press and the Antiochian Orthodox to be part of the Eastern Orthodox tradition of canonical iconography.
Which is why I keep directing people to Ouspensky's book: the Meaning of Icons.

Benny,

Here is a photograph of an icon of Saint Joseph from The Coptic Network [coptic.net]

[Linked Image]

Unfortunately, it does not give the year when it was written.

Also, below is an icon of Saint Joseph that was given to me:

[Linked Image]

On the back it states, "This is a copy of an ancient Byzantine icon..."

It does not give the year when the original icon was written; however, I have seen icons of Saint Joseph that are probably made from photos of that ancient icon.
A friend of mine has one, and I have seen it sold on some icon catalogs.

I hope this helps.

griego

Miller you really seem to be privately shoring up the standards of what can be seen as canonical based on your interpretation here.

No, Miller is quite right. Whilst pious undertakings, nothing mentioned thus far meets the standards of Traditional Orthodox Iconography. Just as I do not consider the "murals" that decorate Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow to be icons, as I previously mentioned in another post. Iconography has set rules and standards and does not allow for "artistic" interpretation.

Alexandr

I really like that icon.

St. Joseph is a saint I often consider the forgotten and silent saint--he had the awesome responsibility of taking care of the holy family, yet so little is known about him, and in Orthodoxy, he is not venerated as much as he, perhaps, should be.

(Before any Orthodox jump down my throat about this, I have heard this sentiment from Orthodox priests as well).

Alice

As I really have a great love for St. Joseph, could you or anyone else post a picture or a link to a Canonical Icon of St. Joseph?

Dyakuyu,

Eric