St. Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop

La Tour's nocturne painting shows how he used lighting effects to elevate drama over naturalism. Art historians say it  is commonly known that light transmitted across a hand with its fingers closed produces a bright red colour, which is at its brightest where the fingers touch one another, and darker where the hand is thicker. Also that in reality one would never observe a white contour around the fingers, especially when they slightly overlap as they do in de leTour's painting   La Tour's canvases show he moved beyond the mere description of the physical phenomenon of the light released by the candle in favor of a more highly symbolic value.

A rarely depicted subject, La Tour has shown Jesus as a young boy in the workshop of his carpenter father. Joseph dominates the scene and is bent down over a piece of wood, which he is working with a tool. Jesus holds a candle to help his father to see, effectively bathing his whole face in light. Joseph's eyes seem to be turned upward towards his son, suggesting they are in conversation.

This oil on canvas painting is in the Louvre in Paris, France.