This portrait painting is modern interpretation of the biblical couple of Mary and Joseph. This artwork is painted directly onto book pages taken from the new testament.  These pages include gospels of Matthew and Luke which both portray the nativity narrative of Mary and Joseph.

The pages used in the painting are over hundred years old, with is not incredibly old in biblical terms but gives the painting a worldly and historical feeling.

It was a strange feeling removing the pages from the bible in order to create the painting, but it was not done as a malicious act, but as a mechanism of portraying the life and teachings of the bible in a unique form.

The modern clothes donned by both Mary and Joseph; both carry symbolism of the cross. The painting gives the betrothed couple closeness. I painted flat shoes, rather than modern heels, to reflect practicality and the journey made in the time of the census.


Cain