New! St. Josephs Dream – Sleeping Joseph – by Vicente López Portaña – Catholic Art Print – Beautiful Catholic Artwork

In the Bible we know that God sent explicit instructions to Joseph by way of an angel, warning him in his dreams. This happens four times in the Gospel, the first when the angel tells him it is all right to marry Mary, and the next three are in regards to fleeing Herod and going to Egypt, then when it’s safe to come home, and then to move to Galilee.

This beautiful picture doesn’t say which of the four this is, but Jospeh has his staff, and is sleeping propped up, at the ready, so it is probably one of the last three. The picture gives us a physical representation of what it’s like to have an angel in your dreams. Jospeh’s robes are like a rumple of blankets, and the whole scene is kind of a cloudscape indicating dreamworld.

Vicente López Portaña (1772-1850) was a great Spanish artist, known especially today for his superb portraits. His career started in the Classical period, and ended up in the Romantic period, and you can see some of both in this painting of Joseph. You can also see some Rococo traces, especially in the angel. He did another painting like this, of “Sleeping Joseph,” which we think is from earlier in his career because it is more classical than romantic. You might go check out his portrait of Goya, too, wow.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200+ years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

+JMJ+

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

You might also enjoy original Catholic Art and Jewelry by me, Sue Kouma Johnson, here on Etsy at www.Etsy.com/shop/TreeOfHeaven

Also, check out our Catholic Quote shop, where we are pairing authentic quotes from Saints with Art: www.Etsy.com/shop/CatholicQuote

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic Art.