It was customary in that time and place to celebrate marriage in two stages, the first being the contractual arrangements culminating in consent or "betrothal".

[2] In 1416 Jean Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris urged the Council of Constance to establish a feast day honouring the Betrothal of Mary and Joseph, for which he wrote an office.

[6] Gaspar Bertoni, founder of the Stigmatines, chose Mary and Joseph, in the context of their espousals, as patrons of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata.

The marriage scene has been painted by, among others, Giotto, Perugino, Raphael, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Bernardo Daddi (now in the Royal Collection), Veronese (in San Polo church, Venice), and Pieter van Lint (1640, Antwerp Cathedral).

The subject is depicted in a fresco in the German Chapel at the Shrine of the Holy House in Loretto, Italy;[8] in a sculpture in the left portico of Sagrada Família Basilica in Barcelona, Spain;[9] and in a stained glass window at St. Rita Basilica, Cascia, Italy.