Which Raphael painting from 1504 depicts the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph?
Answer
The Marriage of the Virgin
Raphael’s 1504 painting depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph is The Marriage of the Virgin.
The panel was commissioned for the Franciscan church of San Francesco in Città di Castello. It shows the wedding ceremony before a Renaissance temple, with Joseph receiving Mary’s ring while holding his flowering staff.
The work demonstrates Raphael’s early mastery of perspective and orderly composition. Its temple resembles an idealized central-plan building and reflects the influence of Pietro Perugino, Raphael’s former teacher.
The painting is sometimes confused with Perugino’s own Marriage of the Virgin, created around the same period. Raphael’s version is now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.