Orazio Gentileschi, 'Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife', about 1630-2

The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife is recounted in the book of Genesis (39:7-20). Joseph had been enslaved and purchased by Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh’s guard, who appointed him as steward to his household. Potiphar’s wife took a fancy to Joseph (who, we are told, was well-built and handsome) and attempted to seduce him on several occasions. One day, when they were alone, she commanded him to come to bed with her. At this moment painted by Orazio Gentileschi, Joseph escapes her advances but leaves his sumptuous yellow cloak in her hands as she leans, half-naked across an elaborate bed. Joseph’s cloak was later used as evidence in her false accusation of sexual assault, revenge for his rejection of her, and he was flung into prison.

The Florentine painter Orazio Gentileschi spent the last thirteen years of his life in London as court painter to King Charles I. Though usually assumed to have been commissioned by the king, it is nonetheless thought that this painting was probably painted for Queen Henrietta Maria, to hang in the Queen’s House at Greenwich. The building accounts for Greenwich for the year 1633-4 include a record for varnishing and gilding four frames for paintings identified as the present painting, Gentileschi’s Finding of Moses (National Gallery), Artemisia Gentileschi’s lost Tarquin and Lucretia and a painting of the Muses. The painting may have hung in the Queen’s antechamber at Greenwich until the Commonwealth sale. After the Restoration in 1660 it was claimed by Henrietta Maria, together with the Finding of Moses, and take by her to Colombes, France.

The scene is dominated by the weighty red curtain with gold fringed edges, its stiffness and folds painted with great virtuosity to form a theatrical backdrop that frames Potiphar’s wife’s exquisitely porcelain profile. There is an oppressive abundance of heavy, rich fabrics that might muffle the sounds of a would-be seduction. The bed’s magnificent golden camel foot alludes to animal instinct, while the rumpled linen sheets and cascading hair of Potiphar’s wife suggest a struggle. Joseph himself is dressed in contemporary style; his attire recalls other Florentine narrative paintings of this moment. Gentileschi had already been in England for some years, but he clearly remained attuned to the painterly trends in Florence, his hometown. The care taken to render textiles, hangings and clothing with such virtuosity is particularly appropriate for a story focused on the evidence of a cloak.

Text adapted from the Royal Collection website