Box with scenes from the Joseph story

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The box with scenes from the story of Joseph is a work of ivory art that was made in a workshop in Constantinople. It is dated to the Middle Byzantine period, i.e. it was created before 1204, the year Constantinople was sacked by the Venetians and the Crusaders. The Byzantine Museum in Berlin has two friezes on the long sides (inv. Nos. 568 and 569), and a cover plate is in the British Museum in London. The side parts have the dimensions 7.5 × 20.5 cm or 7.5 × 21 cm. The box may have been used to store relics or liturgical implements.

The two side panels were acquired for the Royal Chamber of Art in 1854 . The cover plate, on the other hand, was incorporated into the cover of a manuscript by Parceval le Galois in the 13th century and was purchased from Sotheby’s by the British Museum in 1901 .

The Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg has replicas of both sides in its collection for Christian archeology and church art.

First long side

First long side: unconscious Josef

The biblical story of Joseph is shown .

The plot is divided into individual scenes. It begins on the left: Jakob , who is sitting in an armchair, sends his favorite son Josef to check on his brothers. Joseph is accompanied by a guardian angel.

The following scene shows Joseph being sold to Ishmaelite traders by the brothers. A brother pulls Josef out of the cistern into which he was pushed, while one of the merchants puts his hand on Josef's head to show that he has acquired him as a slave. The money transfer takes place in the background. On the right edge of the picture you can still see Joseph, sitting on a camel, being led away.

Second long side

Second long side: Mighty Josef

Here the viewer is already in the second part of the Joseph story; Joseph, who came to Egypt as a slave, rose to be a powerful man there. His stately clothing and headdress distinguish him from the other people shown. The scene on the left shows " Joseph the breadwinner " who distributes grain to the population during the famine and accepts the Egyptian cattle as payment. The scene on the right shows Joseph's reunion with his father.

Cover plate

The cover plate (9 × 17.5 cm) offers two scenes at the end of the Joseph story. Before his death, the aged Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph and his Egyptian wife, crossing his arms to give Ephraim, the younger, a preference over Manasseh, the older son. On the right side of the picture, Jakob is lying on his death bed. Josef says goodbye to his father while other brothers stand in the background.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frieze - Joseph story. In: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
  2. ^ Arne Effenberger, Hans Georg Severin: The Museum for Late Antique and Byzantine Art . S. 231 .
  3. ↑ panel / casket. In: British Museum. Retrieved April 10, 2018 .