A copy of Murillo’s
Two Trinities hangs
in the vestibule of the Church of the Gesu. Bartolomé
Esteban Murillo was one of the leading artists in
seventeenth-century Spain. Murillo tended to avoid scenes of
martyrdom, he specialised rather in tender Holy Families, lovable
infant saints, and graceful Madonnas.
His depiction of
The Two Trinities derives from
sixteenth-century engravings made for Jesuit devotional books by the
Flemish Wierix brothers. These images, designed to appeal to a broad
lay audience, stressed the humble labors of the Holy Family, and
glorified Saint Joseph, carpenter, protector of the Virgin and earthly
father of Christ. As God the Father, the dove of the Holy Spirit and
Christ form the Celestial Trinity, so Mary, Joseph and Jesus mirror
them on earth in a Terrestrial Trinity.
In this painting, probably
commissioned as an altarpiece, Joseph - the only character directly to
address us - holds the flowering rod, sign of God's will that he become
Mary's husband. The Christ Child is raised on a dressed stone, both a
compositional device to set him at the apex of a triangle in the center
of the painting and symbolic: "thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay
in Zion...a precious corner stone, a sure foundation" (Isaiah 28:16).
As the clouds part to reveal the divine light, their shadows temper the
bold red and ultramarine blue, the apricots, pinks, gold and white of
the highlights to a wonderful overall harmony, a haze of grey, sky-blue
and saffron.
This original painting hangs in the National Gallery in London. When
this painting for the Milwaukee church was made, it required special
permission from Queen Victoria. This permission was granted to an
artist named Gauthier, a Belgian, who did the work for his friend, the
Rev. Peter DeSmet, a Jesuit missionary among the Native Americans. The
canvas, 9 by 12 feet, was brought to Milwaukee by Fr. DeSmet in the
winter of 1870. It then hung over the main altar of St. Gall's from
1870 until 1894. It has been restored two times, in the
summer of 1936 and again in March 1994.
In this painting, probably
commissioned as an altarpiece, Joseph - the only character directly to
address us - holds the flowering rod, sign of God's will that he become
Mary's husband. The Christ Child is raised on a dressed stone, both a
compositional device to set him at the apex of a triangle in the center
of the painting and symbolic: "thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay
in Zion...a precious corner stone, a sure foundation" (Isaiah 28:16).
As the clouds part to reveal the divine light, their shadows temper the
bold red and ultramarine blue, the apricots, pinks, gold and white of
the highlights to a wonderful overall harmony, a haze of grey, sky-blue
and saffron.