Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus

This painting was commissioned in 1656 to Mario Balassi, an extremely sensitive interpreter of the 17th century, through his confessor Lorenzo Calvi, a priest of the Oratorian order. Intended for the Town Hall, it was executed by the artist on a pendant with the Virgin Mary and Child that appears to Saint Dominic, a canvas exhibited in this same room of the museum.
Besides the other painting, this artwork commemorates the title of city granted to Prato by Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici in 1653. The choice to represent Saint Joseph is determined by the fact that the Saint was the protector of the city. He was also the patron of the powerful art of carpentry that had its centre in Piazza Mercatale. 
The child Jesus is embraced by Saint Joseph in the centre of the canvas. Above their heads and sides, the scene is completed by angels holding a crown, lilies, roses and palms. These perhaps allude to the Mass for the Saint’s Day, which was declared an ordinance in 1621, and remembered by the psalm "IUSTUS UT PALMA FLOREBIT". At the bottom, however, we find typical carpentry tools, such as planes and hammers.
The frame was carved by the Florentine Adamo Guglielmi after its completion, in 1688.