Rembrandt's Painting of "Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife"
The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is told in the first book of the Bible, Genesis,
chapter 39. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and bought by Potiphar, a high
ranking official in the Pharaoh's service. "The Lord was with Joseph," and gave him
success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar and before long Joseph was given the
highest position in the household, and left in charge when Potiphar was away. Now
Potiphar's wife found Joseph to be very good looking and had approached him several times
saying "come to bed with me;" and Joseph being a man of God would not sin against his
master or the Lord, so he refused her. One day when all the servants were gone, Joseph
entered the house and Potiphar's wife approached him and while holding on to his cloak
said "come to bed with me". Joseph refused and left the house leaving his cloak behind.
Potiphar' Wife screamed for help saying that Joseph had attacked and tried to sleep with
her. When her husband came home she told him the same false story. Potiphar was so angry
at Joseph he had him locked up in Pharaoh's prison. "But while Joseph was in the prison,
the Lord was with him." This is the subject matter for which Rembrandt choose to do his
representational painting by. The content of the painting all reveals Rembrandt's
interpretation of the story This is the account from the Bible of the accusation of
Joseph by Potiphar's Wife. Rembrandt Van Ryn chose this particular story as the subject
of his narrative painting completed in 1655, under the title of "Joseph Accused By
Potiphar's Wife". Before researching this painting, I noted my fist perception of
Rembrandt work of art. I realized through that as a result of my later research, my
first perception did not change, but instead were enriched and enlarged by a newfound
understanding of the man and his art. I largely concentrated on my first and later
perceptions in the design elements and principles of lighting or value, infinite space,
color, and focal point. After conducting research, my first perceptions about the
value, or relative degree of lightness or darkness, in the painting did not change, but
instead I learned that Rembrandt's use of light and dark was both purposeful and a
technique well- known to the artists of his time. When I first observed this painting,
I thought how dark everything seemed. The only exceptions to the darkness are the bed
and Potiphar's wife, both of which are flooded in light almost as if a spotlight were
thrown on her and the bed. Some light shines on Joseph's face and from behind him like a
halo around his body, but this light is very dim. Potiphar in great contrast to his wife
is almost in complete darkness. I first felt there should be more light from perhaps
candles to cast the entire room in partial light. But after research I found that
"Rembrandt liked strong contrasts of light and dark and used them in his paintings all
his life, letting darkness hide unnecessary details while using light to bring figures
and objects out from the shadows. The high contrast of light against dark changed an
ordinary scene into a dramatic one ... the Italian word for this use of light and dark
[is] chiaroscuro " (Muhlberger 9). Rembrandt must have believed that too much detail in
the room would have obscured the primary players of this scene. He uses light to
brightly illuminate the most important person in this painting, Potiphar's wife. In
descending order of importance, Rembrandt places a glow around Joseph and casts Potiphar
in a almost total darkness. I now am able to see how the contrast of light and dark
demonstrates drastically this crucial turning point in Joseph's life. The fact that an
Italian word exists for Rembrandt's lighting technique only proves the technique's
establishment in the art world he lived and worked in. As a result of research, my
fist perceptions about the presence of infinite space in the painting did not change, but
instead I gained an understanding of why Rembrandt employed this particular technique in
his painting. I first noticed before conducting any research on Rembrandt or this
painting how the walls appear to go on indefinitely; there are no boundaries to the room.
In addition the artist chose not to add and details to the walls or floor. I believe
that the design element of infinite space, endless space as found in nature, best
describes this technique. Upon conducting my research I found that, according to Richard
Muhlberger, "Rembrandt learned to lavish attention on small parts of a painting, leaving
the rest without much detail. He knew that details look more impressive surrounded by
areas that are plain; they are harder to notice when they cover the entire surface of a
painting" (16). Obviously in this painting of Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife,
Rembrandt's purpose in using the design element of infinite space is to attract the
audience to the characters in this story and not so much their surroundings, with the
exception, perhaps, of the bed. Therefore, my perception of this design element was only
enlarged by the knowledge of Rembrandt's motivation in including infinite space in his
composition. My first perceptions about the colors in the painting did not change,
but instead I gained an understanding of how the colors Rembrandt used contributed to the
characters' portrayal/depiction. Color, the character of a surface resulting from the
response of vision to the wavelength of light reflected from that surface, influences
people in various ways. One of the greatest color affects people is through their
emotions. When I first studied the painting of Joseph being Accused by Potiphar's wife,
the dreary, somber colors left me feeling depressed. I've never really enjoyed
Rembrandt's painting because of his frequent use of low intensity colors like muddy
browns. But then, after reading the passage in the first book of the Bible, Genesis,
where the story in the painting is recounted, I began to understand Rembrandt's reasoning
behind his choice of colors (at least) for this particular painting). Joseph is being
accused by his master's wife, the master he has served with all of his ability, of a
crime he has not committed, not even in his mind, despite the many opportunities the
woman has given him. For Rembrandt to successfully depict Joseph's situation, he "had to
... know the stories he painted and all the characters in them" (Schwartz 15). Instead
of focusing on the luxurious setting of an Egyptian official's bedroom, Rembrandt chose
to underscore the seriousness of Joseph's situation through color. After researching
Rembrandt's painting, my first perceptions of the focal point of this composition did not
change, but I felt I understand better how he created the focal point. Before
researching Rembrandt's work, I felt drawn to the woman in this painting for the mere
fact that she is easiest to see and in the middle of the picture. The design principle,
focal point, the point of emphasis that attracts attention and encourages the viewer to
look further best explains how I was pulled in by Potiphar's wife. Through my research I
discovered Rembrandt, in order to heighten the importance of Potiphar's wife's action,
her fingers pointing to the robe, placed her fingertips in the middle of the canvas (Munz
10). Another important placement involves the bed. After a careful look at the picture,
I found the bed also is located in the middle of the painting, and covers over half of
the canvas. The bed also then another focal point since it dominates the composition
while other areas are subordinate to it. Rembrandt's focal points work because of the
strong contrast between light and dark and because of placement of the characters in this
story. Thus, through research I learned how Rembrandt achieves his focal points which
my first perception initially discovered. Now without knowing the story of Joseph
and Potiphar's wife one could piece together the events taking place by the content in
the painting. There is a large room partly lit. In the center is a bed with snow white
sheets fitted perfectly, as if a maid had just finished dressing it. To the side of the
bed, seated in an equally large chair, is a most troubled-looking woman. She is adorned
with a lavish, bright-colored gown, and wears decorative jewelry, with her hair
luxuriously woven. She points with her right hand an accusing finger at a dark maroon
cloak draped on one of the bed posts. Her other hand nurses a torn lapel of an under
garment, suggesting she has been in some manner violated. She looks, with a creased
forehead, at a tall, dark figure to the her left, whom for the lack of lighting shimmers
in an elegant uniform, his head donning a turban. He leans on the back of her chair, his
hand closed, but his arm pointing in the same direction as the cloak. His other arm is on
his hip directly above a sheathed sword. His overall stature and facial expression
appears quizzical, as he ponders over the serious situation. The situation of course
concerns the accusation his wife makes of the owner of the cloak. The lonely figure in
the corner dressed in the drab olive green tunic stands silently listening to the woman,
obviously the accused owner of this cloak. His maroon red sash with the keys reveals his
importance to the household. Rembrandt clearly brought this "scene to life
convincingly"(Schwartz 15). For him to have accomplished this feat, he "had to give each
figure an appropriate expression, pose, and costume"(Schwartz 15). All this Rembrandt
has done, leaving us with a tragic moment in biblical history captured beautifully in
this awesome painting of Joseph accused by Potiphar's wife.
Work Cited Barker, Kenneth. The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,1995. Muhlberger, Richard. What Makes A Rembrandt
A Rembrandt? New York: Viking, 1993. Munz, Ludwig. Rembrandt. New York: Harry N.
Abrams Inc, 1984 Schwartz, Gary. First Impressiaons:Rembrandt. New York: Harry N.
Abrams Inc, 1992.
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