Joseph's Brothers Beg for Help

The artwork

Many years after selling him into slavery, Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to ask him for grain, and they do not recognise him. It comes printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• A long painted story, with Joseph on a triumphal chariot and the grain being handed out.
• A long, narrow frieze, perfect above a headboard, a sofa or a low bookcase.
• A gift for anyone who loves Bible stories and Florentine painting.

In Genesis, famine strikes all the lands around Egypt, and only Pharaoh's granaries are full, thanks to Joseph, who has become his trusted right-hand man. The brothers who had betrayed him come before him to ask for help.

Pontormo places Joseph on a triumphal chariot, while all around the grain is being distributed. The inscriptions on the chariot allude to Christ, saviour of the world.

The panel is more than one metre forty long and just over thirty-five centimetres high, and it belongs to the stories of Joseph painted for the Borgherini bedchamber in Florence. Today it is in the National Gallery, London, and is on loan to the exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome.

Above a headboard or a low sofa, it leads the eye from one end of the wall to the other. It is the gift for anyone who loves long stories and fine details.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 40 x 60 cm (15.7 x 23.6 in)
Framed size: 42 x 62 cm (16.5 x 24.4 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with a gold fillet, handmade, with glass