Joseph, von Potiphars Frau beschuldigt

Rembrandt signed and dated this 1655, and the story is the biblical one where Potiphar's wife, having failed to seduce Joseph, accuses him to her husband instead. There is a puzzle built into the picture, though. A nearly identical version hangs in Berlin, also signed and dated 1655, and scholars have argued for generations over which is the master's own hand and how much of each came from his busy workshop. The Washington gallery now labels this one a workshop production. Rembrandt made it in a hard year, months before he slid into the bankruptcy that would cost him his house and his collection. The canvas later belonged to Catherine the Great, who bought it in 1763 for the imperial gallery in Saint Petersburg.