Q: What is the first representation of Mary's betrothal to Joseph?

A: The earliest extant representations of Mary's betrothal with Joseph both in East and West are dated around the 5th century. In the Western Church the oldest extant sample can be seen in the museum of Le Puy, France (4th/5thc). We are dealing here with the relief of a sarcophagus. It represents the veiled Mary putting her left hand in Joseph's right hand. Behind the figures of Mary and Joseph there is the figure of an angel with halo and scroll, a reference probably to Juno Pronuba appearing in similar representations of classical antiquity to assist the couple and validate their union. The oldest extant example in the Eastern tradition (5c) is to be found in Venice (columns of the tabernacle in San Marco).

Please note that the lovely image to the left is not the image mentioned above. When Mary Page locates the image, we will post it.

For more information see:

The Feast of St. Joseph FAQ 25

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This page was created by Ray Voelker, and is maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and last modified Tuesday, 06-Feb-2001 15:48:50 EST by Ray Voelker. Please send any comments to Johann.Roten@udayton.edu.

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