Old Testament subjects
Old Testament subjects
Joseph's Cup discovered in Benjamin's sack of grain
c.1510-20Engraving | 17.2 x 27.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 850210
The drawing is a design for a salver (see RCIN 854255 for a photograph of the drawing) and it was first attributed to Peruzzi by Philip Pouncey in 1949. As underlined by Pouncey and Gere (see Bibliographic References), the meticulous style of the drawing is explained by its function as a design which could be followed by a goldsmith, while the Raphaelesque manner adopted here by Peruzzi is compatible with his drawings from the end of the second decade of the sixteenth century.
In the design for the salver, the scenes round the edge are from the Old Testament story of Joseph and they represent: Joseph's brothers kneeling before him; the discovery of the money in the sack; Benjamin brought before Joseph; Joseph and his brothers feasting; the finding of the cup in Benjamin's sack (the scene reproduced in this print); Joseph embracing Benjamin. The central roundel shows the destruction of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea.
Creator(s)
Giovanni Antonio da Brescia (c. 1460-c. 1520) (engraver)
After a work attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1536) (draughtsman)
After a work previously attributed to Raphael (Urbino 1483-Rome 1520) (draughtsman)
17.2 x 27.7 cm (sheet of paper)
16.5 x 27.8 cm (platemark)
Added to the Prince Consort's Raphael Collection (c.1853-1876)
Subject(s)
- Science, Medicine and Technology
- Home economics
- Tableware
- Salvers (table equipment)
- Tableware
- Home economics
- Places
- Physiography
- Oceans
- Indian Ocean
- Red Sea
- Indian Ocean
- Oceans
- Physiography
- Science, Medicine and Technology
Bibliographic reference(s)
p. 166, no. VII.1 (entry written by Stefania Massari) (Raphael Invenit 1985 : Bernini Pezzini, G. et al., 1985. Raphael Invenit. Stampe di Raffaello nelle Collezioni dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, Rome)
pp.139-140, no. 241 (Italian Drawings [...] British Museum: Raphael and his circle: catalogue, 1962 / Philip Pouncey and J.A. Gere, London)