1512
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Joseph Interprets the Dreams in Prison is a 1512 by Lucas van Leyden, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting shows Joseph in prison, interpreting dreams for two fellow prisoners. He listens to their stories and tells them what he thinks the dreams mean. The scene is from the book of Genesis. Joseph's interpretations are different for each man. One man will be released and restored to his former life. Check out the work of Lucas van Leyden (Dutch, 1494–1533) for more like this.
In the book of Genesis, Joseph, a son of Jacob, is the model of a righteous man who overcomes adversity by following God. This scene shows how, imprisoned in Egypt, two fellow prisoners ask Joseph to interpret their dreams. On the right, we see the cupbearer’s dream, in which he squeezes grapes into the pharaoh’s cup to offer wine. Joseph interprets this to mean that the man will be released and restored to his former life. The baker’s dream, on the left, unfortunately has the opposite interpretation, leading to the man’s execution. According to Christian people, the wine and bread references…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Lucas van Leyden (1494 – 8 August 1533), was a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut. Lucas van Leyden was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and was a very accomplished engraver.
See the richer artist page
