Dream of Joseph
Artist
Anton Raphael Mengs
(German, 1728 – 1779)
Date1774-79
MediumOil on wood
DimensionsFrame: 52 1/2 × 42 5/8 × 4 5/16 in. (133.4 × 108.3 × 11 cm)
Image: 42 1/2 × 32 13/16 in. (108 × 83.3 cm)
Image: 42 1/2 × 32 13/16 in. (108 × 83.3 cm)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN328
Mengs, a German Bohemian artist, was active in Rome, Madrid, and Dresden. He is best known today for his study and admiration of classical art—particularly sculpture—and his key role, along with his close friend, the philosopher Johann Joachim Winckelmann, in championing a Neoclassical aesthetic. The monumental, heavily muscled figure of Joseph here recalls both ancient sculpture as well as the work of Michelangelo, whose work Mengs studied first-hand in Italy. In this scene from the Bible, Joseph is warned by an angel to remove his family from Bethlehem to escape King Herod’s massacre.
On View
On viewLocation
- Museum of Art, Gallery 17, Wall West
