The Holy Family's Return to Nazareth

“The Holy Family’s Return to Nazareth” is a bronze sculpture depicting an imagined scene of the Holy Family traveling back to Nazareth after finding Jesus in the temple. The scene invites the viewer into the story and composition, and emphasizes the humanity of the Family in the concrete physicality of figure rendered in a three-dimensional medium.

Artistic Development of Concept

When I was approached about this project I was given three criteria within which to conceptualize and plan the piece: first, that the architecture students, Margaret Jones and Adele Bischel, who conceived the garden had planned it with the statue of Jesus being separated from the statues of Mary and Joseph, so that he would be the first figure to welcome the viewer from the entry of the garden; second, that the scene the donors wished to have represented was taken from Luke 2:46-52, specifically from Luke 2:51, “he went down with them and came to Nazareth…”; and third, that the monks wanted the sculptures and garden to emphasize the theme of obedience. There was plenty of creative freedom within those parameters and I was able to build a very personal narrative of this historical and biblical event.

As I began praying with the scripture and meditating on this journey I was amazed by how deeply intricate the dialogue and interpretation could become from such a short story. This representation of the Holy Family in this particular moment of their life gave me the opportunity to bring the viewer into deeper understanding of who each member of the Holy Family was, what role they each played in the family unit, and what their 2000-year-old family dynamic has to teach us about marriage and family life even in our modern times. 

Other considerations that guided my development from concept to design included my desire to introduce, with Christianity, themes such as the equality and complementarity between men and women, the universality of the Church and resolution of the tension between historical realism and interpretation through the lens of cultural diversity, the importance of representation in art, healthy and holy masculinity, and the theology of the body. 

All of these things considered, I was able to imagine a scene that would express not only what the Holy Family was likely going through in this moment of their lives together, but would also present the viewer with other themes and angles from which to enter the contemplation of this Family and the Gospel message in our modern time and in our particular area of the world. 

Artistic Process

Once I had grasped my concept and goals for the piece I began the process of bringing all of it to life visually within the sculptures. The first part of that process for me is the selection of live models from which to model the figures. It was important to me to sculpt them with physical attributes that are more representative of the part of the world they came from. Traditional representations of the Holy Family often depict them with physical features more representative of European ancestry. The reason for this is because many of those depictions were made by Europeans and for Europeans. I kept in mind while choosing the features and look of my representation of the Holy Family that I am an American sculpting this monument for a community in America. So, while I wanted to honor the heritage that the actual Holy Family came from, I also wanted to honor the place that this representation of the Family would reside—the United States. The wonderful thing about our country is that it is a “melting-pot” of cultures. There is a beautiful blend of cultures and heritages that come together to make the diverse “look” of our people. That diversity lends itself to the expression of the universality of the the Catholic Church. Christ came for all people, so I wanted to make the Holy Family look like they were from their own part of the world while keeping in balance a multi-cultural look that makes them seem as if they could be from any part of the world. I wanted any visitor, no matter their ethnicity, to feel welcome to approach and to belong within the Holy Family.

In order to achieve this I chose to work with many models from many different ethnic backgrounds for each figure. I employed seven different models for the face of Mary, several of which were multiracial, to finally resolve Mary’s features. For Joseph I referenced the faces of six men to find the face of Joseph. Finding young models was more difficult, but for the face of Jesus I employed two brothers with a beautiful blend of multiracial ancestry and used the features I had found for Mary and Joseph to complete the features I chose for the young Christ. It was a wonderful challenge to use my understanding of anatomy and form to sculpt faces, not of each of my models, but of the Holy Family that I could see through all these actual faces. 

Besides their faces, it was important to use live models in order to find their forms and the poses that I felt would best convey the story I was trying to tell. I wanted to represent an active Holy Family, all of them participating in the moment. In the gesture of each figure, the narrative is told. Each of them holds a posture that gives you a different point of entry into their story. 

Clothing the figures was also a wonderful and creative part of the process, because it gave me the opportunity to broaden the narrative by adding wind and motion to their garments. This was an important decision to me, because these are outdoor sculptures and everything around them is alive. The trees will be blowing in the breeze, birds will be singing, people will be walking the path. I wanted to bring some of that life into the bronze itself. The motion sculpted into the fabric is my way of visually representing the presence of the Holy Spirit—residing in them, but also dancing around them, leading and guiding their way.

Composition 

In my take on this moment from the Holy Family’s life, I wanted to set a scene that incorporates the viewer into the story and composition. I have imagined that as they are journeying home to Nazareth, after this very significant three days separated, Jesus has stopped along the path because he has noticed you (the viewer) following closely behind, and he wishes to invite you to follow him. I imagined that as Mary and Joseph were walking, intent on getting the family home safely, Mary, in her motherly instincts and deep connection with Jesus, was the first to realize that he has fallen behind on the path. Joseph has kept a close eye on his family. Though focused on forward progress in the journey, he has kept them constantly in his watchful periphery and is about to realize that something has caught Mary’s and Jesus’s attention. 

It was my firm desire that the sculptures be installed directly onto the path that the viewer would walk, with no barrier around the sculptures and no pedestals lifting them off the ground away from the viewer. This makes for less visual interruption to the scene and allows for our physical participation within it. As the viewer enters the garden they are welcome to walk right up to each figure as they prayerfully consider what each person of the Holy Family is communicating to them. That was also the reason for leaving space between each figure rather than sculpting them to touch in any way. I wanted the viewer to be able to contemplate each character individually because each member of the Holy Family had their own unique experience of this moment and each has something unique to teach us. 

While the decision to keep them separate was necessary to accomplish those goals, I also didn’t want to lose sight of their union as a family. While they are three distinct individuals they are also one family unit. This is expressed when you are standing further back from the sculptures. I intentionally planned their arrangement in relation to each other so that when viewed from certain distances and spaces within the garden their gestures and postures would unite in perspective to portray their unity and interactions.

As you enter the garden and follow the path leading to the Holy Family, you view the young Jesus, flanked by his parents. From this perspective, they stand together as two pillars guarding, nurturing, and supporting their son in his mission. On one side you see Joseph and from this viewpoint it looks as if his outstretched hand is coming to rest on Jesus’s shoulder—a loving and supportive gesture. On the other side of Jesus you see Mary, turning towards him to see what is happening. Though her hand is reaching towards Joseph’s, in this view it is meant to look as if it is coming to meet Jesus’s outstretched fingers, in a gesture of tenderness and an ode to Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam.” Standing in this perspective point gives the viewer a snapshot of the intimacy and love present in this family; their supportive and complementary roles all coming together for the mission they shared.

The other prominent perspective point in the composition is from under the shelter in the garden, looking back towards the Holy Family. From this angle, the hands of each member of the family seem to join in the middle, with Christ’s hand in the traditional gesture of blessing being at the center. This view emphasizes their unity; though three distinct individuals they are one under the covenant of marriage.

The cross arms of the garden path that lead to the seating areas on either side of Mary and Joseph offer another perspective point. This provided me an opportunity to highlight and isolate the marital relationship between them by situating the statues of Mary and Joseph in the direct middle of these cross arms. From this angle the viewer will see the profiles of Mary and Joseph’s faces turned toward one another. Their hands line up to seem as if there is no separation between the two statues. The partnership between Joseph and Mary was essential in raising and loving Jesus. The intimacy between Joseph and Mary was deep and cultivated throughout their relationship. After all they had endured over those three days searching for Jesus, and faced with a long journey through the desert alone (as the caravan was already well ahead of them), I am sure they were leaning heavily on each other’s strengths and the comfort they provided each other to make it through this trial, like so many other trials they had already faced as a family up to this point. This perspective gives the viewer the chance to engage with that specific relationship within the larger family unit.

Individual Figures

Joseph

It was really Joseph who led the way in the development of the narrative I felt inspired to depict. This surprised me because I didn’t know much about St. Joseph before beginning this project. He is a completely silent character in this passage and throughout the entire Bible, but he spoke the loudest to me in my initial prayer and contemplation about this piece. In Joseph I saw an opportunity to dialogue about healthy and holy masculinity. 

I wanted to give men today a good example to look to as they work to realize more fully their own masculinity. In my opinion, the world has told men many lies about what it means to be a man, but through St. Joseph, and hopefully my depiction of him, men have an invitation into a different experience and understanding of themselves. The world tells men it is not okay to be vulnerable, or to need other people’s support. But that lie imprisons men and can lead to repression of their emotions and unhealthy outlets in an attempt to satisfy their needs. This hurts not only themselves but also their families.

In contemplating all of this in contrast with the example given to us by St. Joseph (throughout Scripture and tradition) I was able to understand how I needed to pose Joseph to visually represent the deeper layers of his personhood that I wanted to portray.

I tried to convey in Joseph’s gesture his strong and capable leadership, and a sense of determination in his active forward movement. In his determination to lead his family safely home, he wouldn’t have lost sight of their needs, so his head is turned slightly inward toward them. This emphasizes the attentive and protective posture of a father and husband. While his head is definitely inclined toward his family it is also oriented upward as he lifts his prayers to God. I can’t imagine what Joseph must have gone through emotionally and physically as he searched for Jesus in those three days while also trying to console Mary and keep faith. That must have been so heavy and even now as he has his son back in his watchful care, he may still be processing that burden. In my understanding of him, Joseph wouldn’t have hid from those emotions, but would have been present to them in dialogue with God—entrusting all to the Lord’s care and consolation. We see this in Joseph’s expression and parted lips as if he is in mid-conversation with the Lord. Joseph wouldn’t have found this vulnerability before the Lord to be a weakness and he also wouldn’t have been afraid to reach for Mary in vulnerability to ask for her love, support and partnership in this moment. These two acts of vulnerability create a stretching of Joseph in the pose. As his eyes reach to heaven and his arm reaches to Mary, his heart is exposed. This is Joseph’s strength. 

Mary

The rest of the composition flowed easily from the initial comprehension of St. Joseph as its foundation. 

From the Bible passage we know that Mary pondered and processed “all these things in her heart” which is conveyed in her pose: one hand resting gently on her heart while she beholds her son in this moment on the path. Jesus has separated from her again in this imagined scene, this time to minister directly to us as he waits for us to join the Family’s journey. I imagine that Mary would have felt this distance deeply, with the recent the memory of their three days apart, and may have even wanted to move towards him or call him back to her. I had even originally sculpted Mary with her lips parted as if she was saying Jesus’s name. However, as I contemplated her further, I came to believe that she would have held that tension quietly within herself, not trying to control the situation or solve it, but rather, quietly beholding her young son stepping into the mission he has been sent for. So I sculpted her, lips closed, gaze watchfully on her son as she waits and wonders. I imagine that she is renewing her fiat in this moment.

Mary’s posture is not only oriented towards her son, her momentum within the pose is still moving in the direction of Joseph, following her husband’s lead in this journey. I wanted to portray their different, yet complementary roles within the family, as man and woman, while still representing their equality. Thus, Mary’s outstretched hand lies on the same plane as Joseph’s hand. He seems ready to catch Mary’s hand, to lift her up. Her hand awaits his receptively—ready to be held by the man worthy to hold it. 

Mary’s pose emphasizes her strength and expansive capacity in her role as wife and mother while also emphasizing her quiet wisdom and receptivity. 

Jesus

It was amazing to contemplate Jesus at age twelve. In this scripture we see him reaching adolescence, stepping into his calling with that passage into adulthood. There is a boldness in what he just did for the last three days and he shows confidence in what he is beginning to know that he must do. 

Though the obedience of each of the Family members to each other and to the mission has been discussed and subtly represented in the compositional interactions between each of the figures, it is really in the figure of Jesus that this theme expands and becomes a large part of the narrative. Jesus is obedient to his human parents and the direction they are leading him (in this present, physical journey, but also in the wider, spiritual sense) and this is evident in his gesture as his weight pushes forward, in the direction of his parents. He intends to follow them. His arm reaches towards them, hand gently gesturing in a way that communicates to them that he is coming. He is about to continue on with them. But Jesus is also obedient to his heavenly Father, and the mission he has been sent for: us. So he waits for us, with his other arm extended towards us, inviting us to follow. In these two acts of obedience his arms become extended almost equally to either side and his posture becomes cruciform, representing his obedience in every level of his call, to the very end. The pose I chose for Jesus reminds us of what this little boy we are engaging with will ultimately face for our sake. It reminds us that part of our journey is in taking up our cross and then continuing on with him.

My hope is that each visitor to this place, no matter their background or beliefs, will be welcomed into an encounter with the Divine through this sculpture of the Holy Family, and that they might find rest and reassurance on their own personal journeys through the example of these holy people, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

It has been an honor and a gift to sculpt this monument of the Holy Family. This work has been so special to me for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is because it is for the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey. The monks meant so much to me for the 7 years I lived in Atchison, first as a student at Benedictine College and then later as an adjunct professor there. It was actually at the Abbey’s Holy Week retreat that I received the clarity necessary to move to Florence, Italy to study sculpture. That retreat is forever tied to my memory of starting on this path, so it is hard to put into words how much it means to me that my first professional work would end up residing here at the Abbey. It is an incomprehensible honor and joy to install a monument of love, gratitude, sacrifice and prayer in a place that already holds such a large part of my heart. God writes the best stories and His generosity cannot be outdone. I will never be able to express my gratitude and wonder. To Him be the glory.