Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

This burlesque scene shows the attempted seduction of Joseph by Potiphar’s wife. Jealous of his status as Jacob’s favourite son, Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery in Egypt, where he was bought by the captain of the guard, Potiphar. His gifts were soon noted by the captain who promoted Joseph to head of his household. Soon his youthful good look attracts the attention of Potiphar’s wife, but, loyal to his master, Joseph repeatedly declines his mistress’s advances. One day Joseph comes into the house only to find it deserted, with no sign of the other servants. '... and she [Potiphar’s wife] caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out' (Genesis 39:12). While the biblical narrative is sparse in detail, Rembrandt clearly relished its bawdy potential, setting the scene in the mistress’s bedroom, with a not too subtle phallic bed post in the foreground. The lusty wife lies on crumpled sheets, and with a look of eager expectation, reaches out to grasp Joseph, exposing her fleshy nether regions. Joseph pulls away, whether from revulsion or integrity it is not entirely clear. One of the earliest etchings of an erotic subject, its spirit is one of earthy comedy rather than stern moral tale.