Although the figure of Joseph does not figure prominently in the New Testament or in patristic literature, it nonetheless attracted the attention of early Christians. As early as the 2nd century, the story known as the Protevangile of James, which circulated under the title Nativity of Mary, gave him a fairly prominent place. Through its rewritings, the figure of Joseph the carpenter, a family man who, in his old age, receives the mission of looking after Mary, has imposed itself on Western culture. However, other, quite different traditions also circulated in the West. Rediscovered in the 20th century in the wake of the publication of the Latin Infancy Gospels by Montague Rhodes James, they offer a rather different image of Joseph. The main features of this tradition, whose sources may date back to the 2nd century, will be presented and discussed in this contribution.
10:30 - 11:30
