Cleveland Museum of Art

Joseph Interprets the Dreams in Prison

Lucas van LeydenLinkedCulture matchlcp-0101cd592d86

Date

1512

Medium

engraving

Culture

Netherlands, 16th century

Department

Prints

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Object ID

107650

In the book of Genesis, Joseph, a son of Jacob, is the model of a righteous man who overcomes adversity by following God. This scene shows how, imprisoned in Egypt, two fellow prisoners ask Joseph to interpret their dreams. On the right, we see the cupbearer’s dream, in which he squeezes grapes into the pharaoh’s cup to offer wine. Joseph interprets this to mean that the man will be released and restored to his former life. The baker’s dream, on the left, unfortunately has the opposite interpretation, leading to the man’s execution. According to Christian people, the wine and bread references also foretell Christ’s death and resurrection.

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