Museo diocesano di Rieti

From the end of the 16th century, the carpenters of Rieti were established under the title of San Giuseppe as an altar brotherhood at the church of San David in via Nuova. When Cardinal Giovanni Francesco dei Conti Guidi di Bagno, bishop of Rieti from 1635 to 1639, assigned the church and the building annexed to it to house the female orphanage, the devoted artisans waited for a new location. The successor of the cardinal of Bagno, Monsignor Crescenzi, entrusted them with the ancient church of San Bartolomeo, now unusable for the parish functions transferred to San Leopardo, on condition that its memory be kept. The members of the brotherhood gladly accepted the proposal and zealously committed themselves to repairing the sacred building, which they decorated with dignity, entrusting Vincenzo Manenti with the task of making the canvases of the Holy Family and the Transit of St. Joseph. The Sabine artist, who at the time was among the most accredited painters active in Rieti, gave worthy proof of his mastery. The Holy Family, which we present this morning, presents a double interpretation which finds its center in the charming figure of a curly Child Jesus next to which, horizontally, the earthly couple of parents Joseph and Mary appear, pleased with the healthy growth of the infant, while vertically God the Father and the dove of the Holy Spirit show themselves from heaven, the celestial Family that constitutes the Holy Trinity together with Jesus: a Mystery of faith represented with the artifices of painting, made accessible to the understanding of pious carpenters, men of good will who gathered for centuries in the name of their patron Saint Joseph.

A nice place