Joseph and his Brethren

The largest and most ambitious of Pier Francesco Mola’s small oeuvre of five etchings, this composition is related to a fresco of the same biblical subject painted by the artist in the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Joseph is shown pardoning his 11 brothers, who jealously sold him into slavery in his youth. As the distant pyramid suggests, the scene takes place in Egypt, where Joseph became an important advisor to the pharaoh, saving the country from famine. His brothers, who remained in Canaan, were starving until they sought Egypt’s help and were thus reunited with Joseph.