St. Joseph's and Father's day in Venice

March 19th is Father's Day and the day in which we celebrate St. Joseph, the ‘father' of Jesus.

There are countless representations of the Nativity with Christ in them but St. Joseph has always been portrayed as marginal and unimportant. However, there is an incredible exception in Venice: it is a painting by the famous painter Giovanbattista Tiepolo, which represents the birth of Jesus.

In fact, in the painting there is St. Joseph who is lovingly rocking the baby, like a good dad, and the Saint is assisted by two small angels, who are preparing the rolls of cloth to wrap him.

This incredible work adorns an altar in the church of San Zulian at the Mercerie of Rialto, dedicated to St. Joseph. When the church became part of the parish of St. Mark's at the beginning of the 800s, the painting, by Tiepolo, was transferred to the small church of St. Teodoro which is located next to the sacristy of the church. A few years ago the Patriarch Scola (now Archbishop of Milan and possible  successor of Benedict XVI) chose to decorate the new chapel in the patriarchal palace, where it remains today.

To visit the Palace of the Patriarchs of Venice, an imposing neoclassical building on the left of the medieval St Mark's Basilica, you should contact the Pastoral Office of Tourism at the Curia of Venice.