Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Genesis (39:7–20) tells how Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, was bought by Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard, whose unnamed wife made several failed attempts to seduce him. Here Guido Reni illustrates one such occasion: the wife clutches Joseph’s robes, pleading with him to make love to her, while the virtuous Joseph turns to flee, leaving a fragment of his torn cloak in her hands — the fabric she would later use as false evidence of rape, sending him to prison and, through his gift for interpreting dreams, to the rise in Pharaoh’s household that followed. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.