3-042-657 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Scenes from the Life of Joseph; Wenceslaus Psalter, about 1250-1260. Additional Info: The scenes on this page continue the story of the Jewish patriarch Joseph begun on the facing page. Starting in the upper left corner, the Egyptian captain Potiphar purchases the boy Joseph, who is thus sold into slavery. In the top roundel of the central column, Potiphar's wife convinces her husband that Joseph made improper advances towards her; below, Potiphar orders that Joseph be imprisoned. In the right column, the sequence ends with Joseph being taken to jail, where he interprets the dreams of those who are in prison with him. The anonymous illuminator conveyed the essence of each event through compositions of a few figures presented in a brilliant palette dominated by blue, red, and burnished gold.