Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, from "The Story of Joseph"
Medium
Engraving; second state of two
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/4 x 3 in. (12 x 7.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Edwin De T. Bechtel, 1949
Accession Number
49.132.82
Tags
Art Historical Context
Heinrich Aldegrever's *Joseph and Potiphar Wife*, created in 1532, a dramatic moment from the biblical Book of Genesis in this intimate engraving from his series *The Story of Joseph*. The scene depicts the virtuous Joseph fleeing the seductive advances of Potiphar wife, who clutches his garment as he escapes her grasp. Rendered in fine detail on a diminutive sheet measuring just 4 3/4 x 3 inches, the print highlights figures with swords, men, and women, tension through dynamic poses and expressive gestures. As a leading figure among the German "Little Masters" of the Northern Renaissance, Al...
About the Artist
Heinrich Aldegrever · 1502–1561
Heinrich Aldegrever, born in 1502 in Paderborn, Westphalia, to parents Herman and Katherine Trippenmeker—a family of clog-makers known by the dialect name Trippenmecker—emerged as a multifaceted artist in the German Renaissance. His early training remains undocumented, though he likely apprenticed in a Soest goldsmith's workshop after relocating there around 1525, where he joined the painters' gui...