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POTIPHAR'S WIFE

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NAKED MAN DENIES AFFAIR
Potiphar's wife in love triangle

The Story

Joseph was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. Once there, he became an outstanding succes - Chief Steward for a rich Egyptian, Potiphar. Potiphar had a beautiful wife, a woman used to getting her own way. She was lonely, bored and now thrown into the company of an unusually handsome man, a Brad Pitt of the ancient world. Neglected by her husband who may have been a eunuch, she fell in love with Joseph - to the point of obsession. She made some kind of sexual approach to Joseph - 'Lie with me', she said. Joseph had to either offend the wife or betray her husband. He decided to reject the woman. But one day when they were alone in the house she insisted, grabbing hold of him. In the physical tussle that followed, she pulled off his linen loin-cloth. He was naked, and ran out of the room and then out of the house altogether, leaving his clothing behind.		'Potiphar had a beautiful wife, a woman used to getting her own way. She was lonely, bored and now thrown into the company of an unusually handsome man, a Brad Pitt of the ancient world.'
		She was enraged. She called to the members of the household, telling them Joseph had tried to rape her. She held up Joseph's clothing to prove her point. Only her screams had prevented him abusing her, she said. She waited until her husband came home and told him the same story. He was enraged - at Joseph? at her? The incident was now common knowledge. As a cuckold he would become an object of ridicule. He charged Joseph with the attempted rape of his wife, and put him in prison. Of the wife, we hear no more.

Bible Reference

Genesis 39:1-20

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'At a time when few people could read or write, images were a popular aid to story-telling and preaching'

Title: Manuscript page from the Wenceslaus Psalter

Painter: Unknown French manuscript master

Year: 1250

Incident shown: various scenes from the life of Joseph, including the attempted seduction by Potiphar's wife

Bible reference: Genesis 39:1-20

Comment: Psalters were popular in the Middle Ages, though the high degree of skill and artistry in their production meant they were enjoyed only by the very wealthy. The illustration at left gives some idea of the rich color and lavish use of gold leaf that made them obvious status symbols, and the red, blue and gold of the illustration is typical of Parisian Gothic work at that time. At a time when few people could read or write, images were a popular aid to story-telling and preaching.

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'she desires him and wants him to be her lover...'

Title: 'Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar'

Painter: Master of the Joseph Legend, Flemish Renaissance

Year: circa 1500

Incident shown: This painting shows the moment when Joseph struggles to free himself from the arms of Potiphar's wife. The artist makes it clear she desires him and wants him to be her lover, but he is thinking instead of his master Potiphar.
The painting is like a comic book sequence in that it shows two scenes in the story, not just one. The scene at right shows a later incident where the wife, now decorously clad from head to toe, complains to Potiphar that she has been attacked by Joseph - his abandoned robe being proof that he has tried to seduce her in Potiphar's absence. Potiphar is heart-broken to hear that his favoured slave has betrayed him.

Bible reference: Left hand side of picture, Genesis 39:7-12. Right hand side of picture, Genesis 39:13-18

Comment: Northern artists like the Master of the Joseph Legend were masters of meticulous technique, and their paintings have exquisite, almost photographic detail. Other painters from this location and period are Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden

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'Writing her biography in 1568, Georgio Vasari commented that de Rossi was a pretty woman with a good singing voice, and a capable housekeeper...'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Properzia de'Rossi

Year: circa 1520

Incident shown: Joseph has rejected the overtures of Potiphar's wife and is turning to run from her room. Her clothes are already disheveled as she grasps his robe to stop him leaving.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: During the Renaissance women artists began to appear. They faced many difficulties, and had to fight to be taken seriously. Rossi was given important commissions to carry out, including the one shown at left, but when she died at the early age of forty, she was penniless and friendless, virtually without any support at all. Writing her biography in 1568, Georgio Vasari, a prominent Renaissance art historian, commented that she was a pretty woman with a good singing voice, and a capable housekeeper.

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'Where previous painters had shown Potiphar's wife as more or less en déshabillé, Tintoretto shows her as a voluptous nude.'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Tintoretto (birth name Jacopo Comin)

Year: 1555

Incident shown: Potiphar's naked wife is pulling the outer garment away from Joseph's shoulders as he backs away from her. Tintoretto's emphasis is on the beauty of the female body rather than the story itself. Where previous painters had shown Potiphar's wife as more or less en déshabillé, Tintoretto shows her as a voluptous nude - unlike Joseph, Tintoretto has let himself succumb to the sensuality of the story..

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: Little is known of Tintoretto's life. He was the eldest of 21 children, surely an achievement in itself, lived in Venice for most of his life, and had a prolific output of work. His paintings are known for their energy and intensity, and for his placement of figures at odd angles - as is shown in the fore-shortened image of Joseph in this painting. He uses luscious color in this painting to accentuate the sensuality .

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'Click HERE to compare this painting with 'Judith Beheading Holofernes', Artemisia Gentileschi, on the 'Judith' page of this website. See the similatities?'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, but differs in several ways from her usual style. See comment below.

Year: circa 1622-23

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife grips his dark outer garment tightly in a clenched fist, but he pulls away from her with all the weight of his body. Joseph is quite young, barely out of his teens - surely rather young to be steward of Potiphar's household and estates?

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: This painting was attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi because it had stylistic features often used by her - the tucked and rumpled bed sheets, and dishevelled hair and clothing, etc. Click HERE to compare this painting with 'Judith Beheading Holofernes', Artemisia Gentileschi, on the 'Judith' page of this website. See the similatities? More recent opinion has refuted this claim, and nowadays Paolo Finoglio is considered as the most probable painter.

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'It is interesting to speculate how much this sympathetic image of the Wife was shaped by the rape of Gentileschi's own daughter, Artemisia.'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Orazio Gentileschi

Year: 1626-30

Incident shown: Joseph is handsome and good-looking, as the passage in Genesis describes him. Potiphar's wife has made her offer to him yet again, and he has refused it, yet again.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: Joseph is dressed as a Renaissance nobleman. He walks firmly, rather than rushes, out of the room. He has an air of authority. This is not the first time she has approached him, nor the first time he has refused. The woman has a look of grief and reproach on her face - she is more believable, more human, than the virago portrayed by so many other painters. This painting suggests a battle of wills and emotions, not an unsophisticated grab at sexual gratification. It is interesting to speculate how much this sympathetic image of the Wife was shaped by the rape of Gentileschi's own daughter, Artemisia.

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'Potiphar's wife has thrown caution to the winds...'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Guido Reni (1575-1642)

Year: 1630

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife has thrown caution to the winds and now urges Joseph to make love to her. She is grasping his outer garment/cloak, tugging at it in the moment before he relinquishes it. He is about to run from the room, leaving the cloak hanging in her outstretched hands.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: Reni presents Joseph as surprised and agitated by the determination of Potiphar's wife. She tugs boldly at his outer garment, leaving him in no doubt about what she wants. The exquisite flesh tones of her body contrast with Joseph's pallor. Her body leans in towards him, but his hand is raised in a gesture of rejection.

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'she is less assertive, more resigned to his rejection'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Guido Reni (1575-1642)

Year: 1631

Incident shown: As above

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: Compare the second of Reni's paintings of this subject with the one above. The folds of the fabric are certainly more realistic, especially the section being gripped by the hand of Potiphar's wife. This time she does not lean forward - she is less assertive, more resigned to his rejection of her. He too seems less startled than in the previous Reni painting of this subject.

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'he struggles violently against the temptation of her white body - and perhaps against the dawning realization that, whatever he does, he is in a no-win situation.'

Title: ' Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called 'Guercino' - the man with the squint (1591 - 1666)

Year: 1649

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife has attempted to seduce Joseph. He grasps the Wife's outstretched left hand, deflecting it away from his face. But she has hold of his cloak, pulling it from his body. She later use it as evidence of his attack on her.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: There are three elements in this painting: Potiphar's dazzling wife, the terrified Joseph, and the rumpled bed and clothing - or in her case, lack of it. She seems to be in comparative repose; he struggles violently against the temptation of her white body - and perhaps against the dawning realization that, whatever he does, he is in a no-win situation. He has two alternatives: to become her lover and betray his conscience and his master, or be punished by her revenge.

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'The woman and the bed are bathed in light...'

Title: 'Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Rembrandt

Year: 1655

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife is making her accusation of attempted rape to her husband, now returned to the household. She points to Joseph's robe at the end of the bed as proof of what has apparently happened.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:16-20

Comment: The woman and the bed are bathed in light. Her hand, the focal point of the painting, is pointing to Joseph, his robe, and the bed. The graceful gesture is all that is needed to tell her story. Her face is calm, apparently honest. Joseph stands listening to this powerful woman - he seems resigned to his fate, hopeless of receiving justice .The keys hanging from his waist, emblems of his office within the household, are all he has left of his former influence. There are no walls in this room, giving the illusion that events are happening in a time outside time.

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'she is the aggressor, but it is hard to believe she is wicked'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Carlo Cignani (1628-1719)

Year: 1678

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife has taken Joseph into an embrace, and he tries to break free. She holds his outer cloak in her right hand, and twines her left hand round his shoulders. He will break free and run from the room, leaving the cloak behind him.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: This painting is more delicate than many of the other depictions of this subject - so much so, that it is difficult to take it seriously as a portrayal of the violent incident described in the Bible. Potiphar's wife is beautiful, young, ecstatic, with none of the hopeless lust described in the story. Cignani's use of exquisite flesh tones heightens the impression of youth. Certainly she is the aggressor, but it is hard to believe she is wicked. Cignani's Joseph is also young, almost a boy. In all, this painting seems to be more about youthful ardor than manipulative lust and revenge.

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'This is a curious painting - and not very good.'

Title: 'Joseph and Potiphar's Wife'

Painter: Willem van Mieris (1662-1747)

Year: 1691

Incident shown: Potiphar's wife, distraught and dishevelled, has thrown herself at her husband's feet. She is telling him her version of what has happened: that Joseph his trusted servant has attempted to rape her, and that she has the proof - his outer garment, which she says came off in the struggle.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: This is a curious painting - and not very good. It shows the Egyptian Potiphar and his wife as 17th century Dutch burghers. Van Mieris was noted for his meticulous, highly detailed paintings. They are described as dispassionate, which unfortunately is only a polite way of calling them dull.

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'she pursues him, catching hold of his cloak and pulling it from his shoulders'

Title: 'Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar', fresco for the Casa Bartholdy

Painter: Philipp Veit (1793-1877)

Year: 1816-17

Incident shown: Joseph has turned to run from the room of Potiphar's wife, but she pursues him, throwing caution to the winds and catching hold of his cloak to pull it from his shoulders.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: Veit had greater success painting watercolors and frescos than oils. This painting does not grab one's attention as some of the more brilliantly colored oils do, but it is quite beautiful and certainly works well as a fresco. The graceful lines of Joseph's robes and the Wife's clothing lend a gentle air to what is in reality a violent event.

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'Strictly speaking, this is not a painting of Potiphar's wife and should not be included here, but....'

Title: 'Joseph, Overseer of the Pharaoh's Granaries'

Painter: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912)

Year: 1874

Incident shown: Joseph became a slave in the household of an Egyptian called Potiphar. He proved to be so capable that Potiphar put him in charge of his house and estate.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:2-5

Comment: Strictly speaking, this is not a painting of Potiphar's wife and should not be included here, but it does show the sort of status and authority that Joseph enjoyed in the Egyptian household of Potiphar. His tragedy was made all the more poignant by the fact that, to remain true to his conscience, he had to forego all this - and be hurled into prison.

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'This is an illustration from Anne de Vries's 'Childen's Bible'.

Title: 'Joseph et la Femme de Potiphar'

Painter: Hermine F Schäfer

Year: 1964

Incident shown: A mature Egyptian woman, seated on a couch-bed, grasps the outer robe of a fleeing young man - a modern drawing of Potiphar's wife and Joseph.

Bible reference: Genesis 39:7-12

Comment: This is an illustration from Anne de Vries's 'Childen's Bible'.