
Wikimedia Commons • Public Domain
by Pontormo
Pontormo rendered this notable work around 1518 as part of a decorative cycle for a Florentine bridal chamber. Salvi Borgherini commissioned multiple artists to depict scenes from the life of Joseph for his son Pierfrancesco's marriage to Margherita Acciaiuoli in 1515. Giorgio Vasari considered this panel Pontormo's work, and it demonstrates the artist's developing Mannerist style.
The painting tells Joseph's story like a sequence in a film. The figure of Joseph appears four times, always recognizable by his ochre tunic, purple cape, and red hat. Pontormo places primary colors strategically around the composition to guide your eye to the central scene. According to Vasari, the boy seated on a step is the artist's young apprentice, Bronzino, who would become a celebrated painter in his own right. The background landscape derives from a 1510 print by Lucas van Leyden.
The work breaks many rules of High Renaissance equilibrium with its crowded composition and artificial spatial relationships. Today it hangs at the National Gallery in London, which purchased it in 1882.

Francesco Guardi
National Gallery, London

Claude Monet
National Gallery, London

Rembrandt van Rijn
National Gallery, London

Raphael
National Gallery, London
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
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