Vitale da Bologna and Workshop, Joseph is Sold by His Brothers

Circa 1351-60
Fresco
Pomposa Abbey, Codigoro, Italy

On the left Judah leads the ten other brothers in selling the boy to Ishmaelite traders (Genesis 37:25-28). On the right one of the brothers tells Jacob that Joseph was killed by wild animals. As evidence he proffers Joseph's tunic, which the brothers had dipped in the blood of a goat (37:31-33). Jacob is then disconsolate (37:34-35).

View this image in full resolution.
View the other panels of the Pomposa Abbey frescos.
Read more about images of Joseph the Patriarch.

• Home Page
• Iconography of Joseph
• This Page

Photographed at the abbey by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.