Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
Medium
Mezzotint; proof before letters
Dimensions
Plate: 12 13/16 × 14 5/8 in. (32.6 × 37.2 cm) Sheet: 13 1/16 × 14 7/8 in. (33.2 × 37.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.2504
Art Historical Context
This striking mezzotint captures the dramatic biblical tale of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, a story of temptation and moral resolve drawn from the Book of Genesis. Created in 1793 as a collaborative effort between painter Giambettino Cignaroli and printmaker Joseph Adrianus Clarot, the work translates a painted composition into print form. Cignaroli, an eighteenth-century Italian artist, was known for his expressive religious and mythological scenes, and this subject allowed for intense emotional contrast between the figures. The choice of mezzotint is particularly effective here. This tonal p...
About the Artist
Joseph Adrianus Clarot|Giambettino Cignaroli (Austrian|Italian) · 1770 |1706 –1820 |1770
Austrian, Brussels ca. 1770–1820 Vienna|Italian, 1706–1770