The Triumph of Joseph
1770.Not on display
The drawing depicts Joseph in a horse-drawn chariot and accompanied by boys playing the flute. He advances towards the left. The background includes horsemen, a statue of divinity, and architecture. In the foreground on the right, women and children are pleading.
This drawing was previously attributed to Luca Giordano. It is a copy of the large composition painted by Conrrado Giaquinto around 1760, currently in Aranjuez as part of the series of canvases that depict stories about this patriarch. The copy must have been made around 1770 for the preparation of a cartoon to be used as a model in the Royal Tapestry Factory, where the beautiful tapestries now in the Royal Palace were woven. The drawing already indicates the difference in proportions between the canvas, which is almost square, and the tapestry, which is much more vertical.
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Museo del Prado, Catálogo de Dibujos, III. Dibujos Españoles. Siglo XVIII. C-Z, Madrid, 1977, p.28