Joseph the Patriarch: The Iconography
The patriarch Joseph usually appears in narrative images illustrating Genesis 37-48. For the earlier episodes in his story he is usually pictured as a beardless youth with blond hair (in a fahsionable "bowl cut" in 15th-century images). A few images from the later episodes, where he is an important official, may give him a beard. His and his brothers' clothes will follow the fashions of the artist's time, but are never extravagant.

MORE IMAGES

  • 5th century: In a mosaic in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore the brothers show Jacob the bloody cloak.
  • 1351-60: Four panels in the Old Testament frescos at Pomposa Abbey illustrate key moments in the story.
  • 1396: Rüdiger Schopf's eleven illustrations in a manuscript account of the story.
  • 1462: Joseph's story is illustrated in thirteen woodcuts notable for detailed and literal fidelity to the scriptural text in Die Vier Historien, folios 1r-12r. The woodcuts are also published in Strauss, LXXX, 29-32.
  • Late 15th / early 16th century: The picture above is from Biaggio d'Antonio's two tableaux of Joseph's story.
  • Prepared in 2016 by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of English, Augusta University


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SHOWN ABOVE:
Biagio d'Antonio, The Story of Joseph, late 15th or early 16th century. See the description page for an explanation of the various scenes.

OTHER IMAGES

Joseph watches as his sons Ephraim and Manasseh are blessed by their grandfather Jacob. (See the description page.)

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TYPOLOGY

  • "Joseph, who was sold by his brother and taken to Egypt, signifies our Redeemer, who was handed over to the persecutors by the Jewish people and was then exalted among the Gentiles" — Isidore, Allegoriae, §45.

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