Girolamo Forabosco

GIROLAMO FORABOSCO (Venice, 1605 - Padua, 1679).
"Joseph and the wife of Potiphar".
Oil on canvas.
-Bibliography: Girolamo Forabosco. Chiara Marin. Venezia Barocca. Close Edizioni. Page 457. Fig. 98 (cat.69).
Measurements: 105 x 135 cm.
In this magnificent painting the biblical episode of the attempt of Potiphar's wife to seduce Joseph is narrated. This one tries to flee from the embrace of the beautiful young woman, whose nudity reveals an agile and slender body. Joseph, dressed in tunic and cloak, tries not to look at her, adopting a gesture of rejection. Her sensual insinuation and frank nudity contrasts with his double layer of clothing and modesty. Since the Renaissance, this has been a much treated theme, and the artist picks up this legacy by entering into a fruitful dialogue with tradition, as is usual in his best compositions. In the flesh tones ignited by passion, in the histrionic gestures and the satin finishes of the garments, the painter succeeds in reviving the sensuality of the Venetian school, infusing it with a romantic imprint. Potiphar, who was a high official belonging to the Pharaoh's court, had acquired Joseph, who had been sold as a slave. After his diligence, Potiphar, appointed Joseph head of the house, it was at that moment, when Potiphar's wife began to notice Joseph, trying to seduce him. Taking advantage of an occasion when the house did not have any of the men in charge, the woman insinuated herself to Joseph, who fled. However, upon Potiphar's return, the woman accused Joseph of attempted rape, for which Joseph was sent to prison.
Girolamo Forabosco or Gerolamo Ferrabosco was a 17th-century Venetian Baroque painter active in Padua and Venice between 1636 and 1644. After studying with Alessandro Varotari (il Padovanino) in Venice, Girolamo Forabosco was artistically influenced by Bernardo Strozzi. He was admitted to the Fraglia dei Pittori between 1634 and 1639 and was a paying member from 1640 to 1644. He adopted the compositional style and subjects of Tiberio Tinelli. By 1653 he had a studio in Padua, but the following year he was back in Venice, where he painted an altarpiece for the patriarch Federico Cornaro, who died in 1654, and a Portrait of Carlo Contarini, Doge. Throughout his career he produced a relatively small number of works, mainly portraits, a genre that secured his reputation, recovering models of sixteenth-century compositions and reviving them through a more vibrant use of color.