Kneeling, she holds up Joseph’s cloak.
Bible in art · Genesis
Potiphar's Wife Accusing Joseph
Lucas van Leyden · 1512
National Gallery of Art, Washington
This is another plate of Lucas van Leyden’s 1512 series on Joseph; the date and his “L” are at the top. Across the sheet, rich striped and fur-trimmed clothes show off his skill with the burin.
Potiphar’s wife kneels and holds up Joseph’s cloak. Potiphar stands over her with a staff, looking up. Servants and soldiers stand round, and men at the right talk among themselves. The sun is low over the hills.
From the text
- She kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home (Genesis 39:16)
- “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me” (Genesis 39:17)
- When his master heard, “he burned with anger” (Genesis 39:19)
The artist’s own
- A whole household and court looking on
- A soldier in a striped costume of Lucas’s day
- The sun on the horizon behind the wall
Details
The cloak
Potiphar
He stands with a staff in his hand and looks up.
The sun
The sun on the horizon, with long rays.
The men
Men in hats and caps talk and point.
Lucas van Leyden, Netherlandish, c. 1489/94–1533. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5659) · Engraving · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)