Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and Baker

Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and Baker

Alexander Bannerman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Genesis (40.1-23) tells how Joseph, unjustly imprisoned in Egypt by Potiphar, correctly interprets the dreams of pharoah's baker and butler. This will eventually lead to his release and appointment as chief minister to the pharoah. Joseph stands here between the baker who leans on his elbow and looks at a basket of bread, and the butler who squeezes a bunch of grapes into a cup. When the print was made, the related painting was attributed to Ribera, known as Lo Spagnoletto (the Little Spaniard).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and BakerJoseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and BakerJoseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and BakerJoseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and BakerJoseph Interpreting the Dreams of Pharoah's Chief Butler and Baker

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.