Joseph and the Wife of Putiphar

Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto

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Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto

Venice (Italy), 1518 - Venice, 1594

Joseph and the Wife of Putiphar

Ca. 1555. Oil on canvas.
Room 044

Joseph is a handsome and virtuous slave falsely accused of rape by his master´s wife, whose advances he has rejected. He is imprisoned, but eventually raised to the highest office by Pharaoh (Exodus: 39). Joseph and the Wife of Putiphar and Susannah and the Elders (P386) can be understood as parables of righteousness threatened and preserved, but here -as was usual for artists of the Renaissance and Baroque- they are presented in terms of sensuous appeal and erotic charge rather than as moral lessons. Potiphar´s wife, lushly nude except for her jewelry, appears extremely sexually aggressive. Grasping the cloth that exposes the body of Potiphar´s wife, Joseph´s backward motion only serves to exaggerate her advances. The two pictures were part of a decorative cycle that also includes representations, in a similar format, of four other Old Testament subjects: Esther before Ahasuerus (P388), Judith and Holofernes (P389), Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (P394), and the Finding of Moses (P396). The six pictures are united by a shared color scheme; an unusually long, rectangular format; and a rhythm of curving, undulating forms that runs from painting to painting. With their doll-like figures and emphasis on surface pattern, these works are far from typical of Jacopo Tintoretto´s usual style, which is characterized by intense chiaroscuro and high drama, based on heroically idealized depictions of the human body in action. These pictures are in a very different mode, one that is related to their function as furniture painting, intended primarily as decoration. Their long, narrow format; oblique perspective; decorative approach; and multiple panels indicate that they were painted as a set to adorn the upper portion of a room. Nothing is known of the original commission or location, although the ensemble was clearly intended for a secular context. The biblical subject matter provides little more than an occasion for the depiction of exotic costumes, courtly ceremony, and naked flesh. The decorative appeal of the ensemble was not lost on Diego Velazquez, who acquired it for Philip IV (r.1621-65) on his second trip to Venice. Upon its arrival in Spain, the cycle was placed on a ceiling in the so-called Bóvedas de Tiziano (Titian Vaults) in the Alcazar Palace in Madrid, which housed the other nudes in the Spanish Royal Collections. Later, the paintings became part of the collection of Queen Isabel Farnese (r. 1714-46), second wife of Philip V (r. 1700-46), at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, near Segovia. Tintoretto was not widely collected in Spain during his lifetime or in the decades that followed. While he obtained several important commissions from Philip II, his style seems not to have appealed to the royal tastes, and his efforts to take the place of Titian in the king´s favor after the older artist´s death were unsuccessful. Nor were his paintings widely collected by members of the Spanish nobility during this period. The situation changed dramatically in the middle third of the seventeenth century. These were the years in which Velazquez exerted his greatest influence on Spanish collecting, and, as Miguel Falomir has suggested, the change can be attributed primarily to the Spanish painter´s appreciation for his Venetian predecessor (Tintoretto, 159-162). By 1686, the number of paintings by Tintoretto hanging in the Alcazar Palace alone (forty-three) was exceeded only by those of Titian (seventy-six) and Rubens (sixty-two), and was equivalent to that of Velazquez himself (Text drawn from Echols, R.: Splendor, Myth, and Vision. Nudes from the Prado, 2016, pp. 78-79).

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Perspective in "The Washing of the Feet", by Tintoretto

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Weekly sessions in English: "The Abduction of Helen", by Tintoretto (1578-1579)

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Inventory number: P000395
Author: Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto
Title: Joseph and the Wife of Putiphar
Date: Ca. 1555
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 54 cm; Width: 117 cm
Series: Serie de las historias bíblicas
Provenance: Royal Collection (acquired by Velázquez, Venice, 1651; Alcázar Palace, Madrid, Titian Vaults, Alcove of the First Room, 1686; Alcázar Palace, Titian Vaults, Nile Room, 1700, n. 508; Isabella Farnese Collection, Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia, 1746, n. 1112; La Granja Palace, Casa de Alhajas-otra pieza-pinturas con marco, 1766, n. 1112; La Granja Palace, Casa de Alhajas, 1774, n. 1112; La Granja Palace, 1794, n. 1112; La Granja Palace, 1814-1818, n. 1112).

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Other inventories +

Inv. Felipe IV, Alcázar de Madrid, 1686. Núm. s. n..
Bóvedas del Tiziano [...] Bóvedas (que llaman) del Tiziano [...] {888} Y en la Alcoua de la primera pieza de estas Bobedas ay en el techo vna Pintura aobada de vnas nimfas y vn Baño de mano de Tintoreto, y en su circunferençia ay seis adornos de Pintura de diferentes fabulas puestas a la gracia y adorno de la Pintura Prinçipal.

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos II, Alcázar de Madrid, 1701-1703. Núm. [508].
Bobedas del tiçiano [...] 508 / Yttem en el techo del aposentto donde estta el Nilo Ottra Pinttura aobada de Unas ninfas y Vn Vaño de mano de Tinttoretto y en Su Circunferenzia Seis adornos de pintturas de diferenttes fabulas puesttas a la Grazia y adorno de la pinttura prinzipal Con marco negro tasada en Seiscienttos doblones ... 600

Inv. Isabel Farnesio, La Granja, 1746. Núm. 1112.
1112-1113-1114-1115 / Quatro, Pinturas en Lienzo, de mano del Ticiano; que representan la 1ª. Jph. que huye de la Muger de Putifano. La 2ª. la Sussana. La 3ª. quando la Hija de Faraon sacò à Moyses del Rio; Y la 4ª. Sisara. Tienen à dos pies, y un dedo de alto; quatro y tres de ancho. Sin Marco ... 4

Inv. Testamentaría Isabel Farnesio, La Granja, 1766. Núm. 1112.
Casa de Alajas donde estan depositadas algunas cosas [...] Ôtra Pieza siguen las Pinturas [...] Pinturas con marco [...] 1112 / Una pintura con marco liso de quatro pies de largo, y dos y medio de ancho, representa la Muger de Putifar agarrada de la capa de Josèf vale ciento y cincuenta rrs

Inv. Carlos III, La Granja, 1774. Núm. 1112.
{17959} 1112 - Quatro pies de largo dos y medio de alto la mujer de Putifar agarrada a la capa de Josef misma pieza [casa de alajas] ... 150

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos III, La Granja, 1794. Núm. 1112.
Otra en lienzo de 4 pies de largo por 2 1/2 de alto, marco dorado liso, representa á Josef el cast y la muger de Putifar: en ciento y cincuenta reales. Tintoreto ... 150

Inv. Fernando VII, La Granja, 1814-1818. Núm. 1112.
{20527} 1112 / Quatro pies de largo dos y medio de alto Jose el Casto y la muger de Putifar = Tintoreto

Inv. Testamentaría Fernando VII, Real Museo, Sala Reservada, 1834. Núm. 2.
DOS. La muger de Putifar. Está asiendo de la capa a José que procura escapar / Tintoretto. Escla Venecna / L. / 2160

Museo Real de Pinturas a la muerte de Fernando VII, 1834. Núm. 2.
SALA RESERVADA / Dos. La muger de Putifar. Está asiendo de la capa a José que procura escapar / Tintorello Escuela Veneciana / Lº / 2.160

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 1839.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 1887.
Tintoretto. / 1887. El Casto José. / Alto 2 pies, 1 pulg; ancho 1 pie, 7 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 422.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1910. Núm. 395.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 395.

Inscriptions +

N.395
Scrap of paper. Stretcher

1839
Inscribed in red color. Front, lower left corner

887.
Inscribed in orange. Front, lower left corner

Tirinnanzi Restauró Fevrero 1856
Inscribed. Front

Los Angeles County Museum Exp. 79913
Scrap of paper. Stretcher

B77 (2 veces)
Inscribed with chalk. Stretcher

⚜
Fleur-de-lys , used as a collection’s mark belonged to Queen Isabella Farnese. Front, lower right corner

M.N.PRADO / 000395
On metallic tablet. Stretcher

110
Inscribed in white. Front, lower left corner

capa
Inscribed with chalk. Frame, front, right side bar

167
Scrap of paper. Frame, back

Exhibitions +

Tintoretto 500th Anniversary
Venecia
07.09.2018 - 06.01.2019

Tintoretto. A Star is born
Colonia
06.10.2017 - 28.01.2018

Splendor, Myth and Vision: Nudes from the Prado
Williamstown MA
12.06.2016 - 10.10.2016

Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto
Roma
24.02.2012 - 10.06.2012

Venezia e l'Egitto
Venecia
30.09.2011 - 22.01.2012

Tintoretto
Madrid
30.01.2007 - 13.05.2007

Location +

Room 044 (On Display)

Update date: 17-02-2026 | Registry created on 28-04-2015

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Joseph and the Wife of Putiphar

Series

Tags

RDF

Multimedia

Perspective in "The Washing of the Feet", by Tintoretto

Weekly sessions in English: "The Abduction of Helen", by Tintoretto (1578-1579)

The Female Perspective: "Judith and Holofernes" by Domenico Tintoretto

Technical data

Related artworks

Bibliography +

Other inventories +

Inscriptions +

Exhibitions +

Location +

Visor 360

Other works by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto

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