Saint Joseph et l'Enfant Jésus (Chapelle Saint-Joseph)

El Greco signed a contract in 1597 to decorate a new chapel in Toledo dedicated to Saint Joseph, and finished the work at the end of 1599. This was its centrepiece, set into an altarpiece frame the painter designed himself, and it is still there, in the place it was made for. Joseph stands tall in El Greco's stretched, weightless manner, leaning on his flowering staff while his free hand rests in the fair curls of the child Jesus beside him. Above their heads a band of young angels lowers a garland. Joseph was a pointed choice for the time, since the saint had become a favourite of Teresa of Avila, the Spanish reformer whose following ran strong in Toledo.