Bible in art · Genesis

Joseph Interprets the Dreams in Prison

Lucas van Leyden · 1512
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Lucas van Leyden engraved this plate for his 1512 series on Joseph. He shows the prisoners’ dreams in two glowing ovals on the wall — a way of putting thoughts into a picture.

Joseph sits on the floor between the two men and counts on his fingers. At the left sits the baker, wrapped in a cloak; at the right the cupbearer in a plumed hat. A chain runs across the floor.

From the text

“Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams” (Genesis 40:8)
The cupbearer’s dream: Pharaoh’s cup and grapes (Genesis 40:11)
The baker’s dream: birds eating from the basket on his head (Genesis 40:17)

The artist’s own

The dreams shown in glowing ovals above the dreamers
The cupbearer as a courtier with plumes and armour
One basket and one bird for the baker’s three baskets

Details

Joseph

He counts on his fingers as he explains.

The baker’s dream

A man with a basket on his head; a bird eats from it.

The cupbearer’s dream

A man pours from a jug into a cup, a vine beside him.

The chain

A chain on the floor of the prison.

Lucas van Leyden, Netherlandish, c. 1489/94–1533. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5658) · 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)

The verses

Gen 40:8–13“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.” Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

Gen 40:16–19When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head. In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

See it at the museum’s site