Saint Joseph practises carpentry assisted by the Christ Child, while Saint Mary (the Blessed Virgin) sews. Engraving by J. Couché, 1786, after Annibale Carracci.

Previous title, replaced October 2023 : Saint Mary (the Blessed Virgin) and Saint Joseph with the Christ Child. Engraving by J. Couché after Annibale Carracci.

"Le raboteur" painted by A. Caracci. The recent daring and unexampled burglary perpetrated, early on the morning of the 11th of last month, at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury, the seat of the Earl of Suffolk, has excited a more than usual degree of interest amongst the police authorities, and has been, as might be supposed, the general topic of conversation in the world of art. The abstraction of paintings well known to every connoisseur and picture-dealer in-the kingdom--and, we may add, more especially in one instance, of European celebrity-- is unique in the records of robbery. How such booty can be disposed of surpasses our comprehension. Few would venture to purchase property so easily reclaimable; fewer still would dare to exhibit a painting the great value of which consists in its authenticity as the original. We may observe, as a refinement in crime, that while silver candlesticks and gold seals were rejected as rubbish, treasures which the ordinary burglar would not even have noticed were in this case the sole objects of the adventure. Sooner or later the culprits, and, above all, the miscreant who plotted the plan, will, we are persuaded, be detected and punished. The painting of which we have given a woodcut is known as "Le raboteur." It is the work of Annibale Caracci, and was purchased, at the sale of the Orleans Collection, by the grandfather of the present Earl of Suffolk. The characters of the parties in this celebrated picture are admirably portrayed: Josph diligently occupied at his calling; the Saviour assisting; the Virgin, sitting at the door of their cottage, engaged in needlework, but, at the same time (her countenance beaming with the sweetest expression and simplicity), looking up for the instant, and apparently deeply meditating on all that had fallen from the Saviour's lips. There is a grave tone of colouring pervading the whole, with few lights, and those artistically distributed, blended together, and contrasted. It is, in short, a first-rate work, and worthy of the reputation of the great master."-- Illustrated London news, 8 November 1856, p. 475

Saint Joseph and the Christ Child are using a string, apparently to mark the centre of a plank. A planer is shown in the foreground, along with wood shavings

1786

1 print : engraving.

Sainte famille. De la galerie de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Duc d'Orleans. A.P.D.R. ... Annibal Carache pinxit. J. Couché sculpsit. M.lle Niquet scripsit.

Lettering engraved by Mademoiselle Niquet, subsequently wife of C.(?) L'Epine, who signed her later works as "Femme L'Epine"

Marcel Roux, Inventaire du fonds français, graveurs du XVIIIe siècle, tome V, Bibliothèque nationale, Département des estampes, Paris 1946, p. 278, Jacques Couché no. 54 ("54. 'Sainte Famille'. Sous le tr. c.: 'Annibal Carache pinxit. J. Couché sculpsit.'. H. 0 m 157 x L. 0 m 207. … Cette estampe est la 5e de la lre livraison, annoncée dans le Journal de Paris du 16 février 1786 et le Journal général de France du 25 février. Le tableau était connu sous le nom du Rabotteur.")

Extensive lettering

Wellcome Collection 10434i

After a painting that passed from the Orleans collection to the Earls of Suffolk and was then stolen on 11 October 1856