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This picture was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of Pierfrancesco Borgherini to Margherita Accaiuoli in 1515. It formed part of a series that decorated their bedroom in the Borgherini palace in Florence. Several paintings by Pontormo and Bacchiacca from the series are now in the National Gallery’s collection. Joseph’s half-brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. In this episode, the brothers arrive from Canaan (Palestine) to beg for help in the second year of famine (Genesis 42: 1–8). Not recognising their long-lost brother, the brothers prostrate themselves before Joseph, who is now Pharaoh’s overseer and sits in command on a classical triumphal chariot. On the right, grain is distributed from Pharaoh’s stores. The inscriptions on the chariot allude to Christ’s title of Salvator Mundi (‘Saviour of the World’).
Title
Joseph's Brothers beg for Help
Date
about 1515
Medium
Oil on wood
Measurements
H 36.3 x W 142.5 cm
Accession number
NG6453
Acquisition method
Bought with the aid of The Art Fund (Eugene Cremetti Fund), 1979
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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Seated Youth The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) -
Study for Saint Jerome The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) -
Portrait of an artist, traditionally believed to be a self-portrait by Pontormo, in a decorative surround Ashmolean Museum, Oxford -
A group of three women on the left (after Pontormo) and three men on the right (after Andrea del Sarto) Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
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Pharaoh with his Butler and Baker The National Gallery, London -
Joseph with Jacob in Egypt The National Gallery, London -
Joseph's Brothers beg for Help The National Gallery, London - 5 more