Lost wax bronze replica from original mold - gilded patina
Author: Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455)
Period: 1425-1452
This panel is part of the 10 square panels that form the Gates of Paradise, or the east-facing doors of the Florence Baptistery.
The story represented in this panel is the story of Joseph, the last of 12 brothers and the favorite of his father Jacob. Sold out of jealousy by his elder brothers, as a slave at the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Joseph proved so witty and intelligent that he was soon appointed Governor of Egypt by the Pharaoh himself, thus becoming wealthy. During a severe famine, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt several times to buy grain, and Joseph recognized them but they did not recognize him. The benevolence towards the brothers and the love for the family meant that Joseph was reunited with his father, after having helped them to get out of the famine. The original masterpiece is kept inside the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence.
In the sixth panel on the Gates of Paradise, Ghiberti depicts Jacob’s children in the upper right-hand corner as they sell their brother Joseph into slavery out of jealousy. Due to his prophetic dreams, Joseph becomes an advisor to the Pharoah and, during a famine many years later, his brothers come to ask him for help without realising who he is. Joseph tests if they have truly changed by planting an expensive cup in their youngest brother Bejamin’s sack of grain and is delighted when his estranged brothers come to Benjamin’s defence after the cup is discovered. He reveals his true identity and the family is reunited again. This complex story is rarely depicted in Old Testament cycles and Ghiberti omits many events of the narrative to emphasise the separation and reunion of brothers. Ghiberti also depicts an elaborate and fantastical open-air grain market, populated with families and ordinary people going about their business. Through this story and the public setting depicted, Ghiberti presents Joseph and his brothers as part of a larger public, much like those who stop to look at the panel in the Piazza del Duomo
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