Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers

The subject matter of this previously unrecorded sketch relates to a series painted by Giaquinto during his activity in Spain from 1753 to 1762, depicting The Story of Joseph for the Palace of Aranjuez, near Madrid. That series comprises four paintings, representing Joseph interpreting Dreams in Prison, The Triumph of Joseph, The Discovery of Joseph's Cup in Benjamin's Sack and Joseph presenting Jacob to Pharaoh. The present composition is not represented within the group, but the similarity of costume and iconography - as well as such details as the angle, as may be judged from the perspective of the bases of the columns, from which the finished canvas was intended to be viewed - with the Aranjuez series is remarkable and strongly suggests that the present picture represents an initial idea for the series that was not included in the final design.