Antoni Gaudí
The Joseph Portal

First quarter of the 20th century
Stone
East façade, Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, Barcelona

True to the name of the church, this statuary group celebrates the Holy Family and explores the ideal of family. In the centerpiece St. Joseph and the boy Jesus engage in a loving colloquy. A rosary hangs above them and to their left and right are Jesus' grandparents, St. Anne and St. Joachim. Below, we see the family journey to Egypt on the left and on the right the Slaughter of the Innocents, a negation of family ordered by the tyrant Herod.

View detail photographs of the Flight into Egypt statues and the Slaughter of the Innocents.

Read more about St. Joseph.

Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.