Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
Paolo Domenico Finoglia, 1640
This large canvas depicts the biblical episode from Genesis chapter 39 in which Joseph, a servant in Potiphar's house, rejects the advances of his master's wife. The scene concentrates on the moment of tension: the woman tries to hold the young man back, while he pulls away with a determined gesture, and the contrast between the figures and the dark background focuses attention on the action. The work is traditionally dated to around 1640, although some sources suggest an earlier chronology, between 1620 and 1623, which reflects uncertainty about its dating. For a time it was attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, a sign of the influence of Caravaggism and of how Neapolitan painting of those years circulated among artists and collectors. Today it is associated with Paolo Domenico Finoglia, a painter active in Naples whose work shows traits of that current. The painting passed through the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which gave it to the Fogg Art Museum, where it is held today.
- Painter
- Paolo Domenico Finoglia
- Date
- 1640
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 233 × 194 cm
- Museum
- Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge
- Genre
- religious art
- Depicts
- Joseph, wife, Zulaikha, woman