Old Masters

Old Masters

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 76. Sold Without Reserve | ATTRIBUTED TO SIMONE PIGNONI | JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE.

Property from a Distinguished Private Collection, Sold Without Reserve

Sold Without Reserve | ATTRIBUTED TO SIMONE PIGNONI | JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE

Lot Closed

June 11, 03:16 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from a Distinguished Private Collection, Sold Without Reserve

ATTRIBUTED TO SIMONE PIGNONI

Florence 1611 - 1698

JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE


oil on canvas

canvas: 34½ by 45⅝ in.; 87.4 by 115.9 cm.

framed: 42⅛ by 53½ in.; 107 by 136 cm.

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's Olympia, 30 October 2001, lot 221;

There acquired for $18,800. 

This biblical scene illustrates a story from the Book of Genesis (Chapter 39). After Joseph, the beloved son of his father, was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, he was send to Egypt and purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s guards. Here, Joseph is shown warding off the eager embrace of Potiphar’s wife, as she attempts to seduce him within the palace walls.  This subject proved popular for 17th century artists, particularly insofar as its moralizing message of avoiding temptation and carnal desires was in line with the Counter-Reformation movement. In composition and style, this painting compares to the works of the Florentine artist Simone Pignoni, and a bozzetto attributed to Simone Pignoni of this same subject and with a similar composition last appeared on the market in Turin in 1991.1


1. Oil on canvas, 24 by 34 cm, Fondazione Zeri Archive ref. no. 52150.