Long before he became a reference point for fathers and craftsmen, even before his sanctity was fully recognized, Joseph was of interest to a number of churchmen, theologians and religious, who found in him a figure to inspire their way of life and stimulate their expectations of reform. Already present in12th-centurybiblical exegesis, the idea was developed in images in the following century on large moralized Bibles, a sign of its spread beyond scholastic circles. It was then mobilized in an original way by demanding reformers: first a few Franciscans, then Jean Gerson and his friends at the time of the Great Schism. A militant image thus emerged from the humble figure of Joseph, whose vivacity was still felt at the dawn of the Reformation, in the writings of Isidore Isolani. Guardian and protector of the Virgin, and therefore of the Church, first witness and first preacher of the Incarnation, the earthly father of Christ sketches out a new model for a Church in crisis, and even for pontifical power, as if the old figure of Saint Peter were no longer enough.
16:30 - 17:00
