Bernardo Strozzi

(Genoa 1581–1644 Venice)
Joseph interpreting dreams,
oil on canvas, 159 x 165 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany circa 1950;
where acquired by the present owner circa 20 years ago;
Private collection, London

Literature:
possibly L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1966, p. 129, fig. 176 (as ‘replica della versione della SS. Annunziata e della Galleria Spinola’, with incorrect measurements 1.60 x 1.60 cm and incorrect location);
possibly L. Mortari, Bernardo Strozzi, Rome 1995 p. 131, no. 227, p. 132 ill. (as ‘replica della versione della SS. Annunziata e della Galleria Spinola’, with incorrect measurements 160 x 150 cm and incorrect location);
C. Manzitti, Bernardo Strozzi, Turin 2013, p. 113, no. 92 (as Bernardo Strozzi, with incorrect measurements 160 x 150 cm)

The present painting is possibly registered in the Fototeca Zeri (no. 60456) as Bernardo Strozzi (with incorrect measurements and incorrect location).

The present painting is considered by Manzitti to be the only known fully autograph version of a subject that was repeated on several occasions, including examples in the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Spinola and the church of Santissima Annunziata in Genoa (see literature).

The high quality of the present painting is emblematic of the artist’s Genoese period and dates to the early 1620s. During this period, Strozzi’s pictorial language showed the influence of Giulio Cesare Procaccini, who was active in Genoa for the Doria, as well as the naturalistic innovations introduced by Caravaggio, whose painting of the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula had been present in Genoa since 1610 (now Banca Intesa San Paolo collection, Naples).

Bernardo Strozzi integrated the influences of his native city and transformed them into an entirely personal language creating a lively new baroque language, with a greatly enriched palette. In the present painting, the diagonal crop of the composition is enhanced by the cup-bearer’s pose, which augments the dynamic thrust of the scene. The free handling of the paint is accompanied by a polished finish applied to the tender flesh tones of the protagonists, who are depicted in bright light. The artist’s naturalistic intentions, are evident in the careful study of the play of light and shade and by the depiction of lush plant growth along the lower edge and the upper left of the composition.

Strozzi returned to the subject of Joseph interpreting dreams in variants of the compostion, including a version made around 1630 (Palazzo Odescalchi, Rome) and another, conserved in Palazzo Pallavicini, Genoa, from a decade later during his last Venetian period. The painter had left Genoa for Venice during the early 1630s, where he received important public and private commissions significantly contributing to the renewal of the Venetian school of painting.

The subject is taken from Genesis (41:9-13): the young Joseph interprets the dream of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s cup-bearer. In the present composition, the cup-bearer discusses his dreams with Joseph while the baker, in the background, listens attentively.