Joseph Explaining the Dreams of the Baker and the Cupbearer

In the Book of Genesis, Joseph, sold into Egypt by his brothers, lands in Pharaoh's prison beside two of the king's servants, his chief cupbearer and his chief baker. Each has a dream. The cupbearer sees a vine with three branches, and Joseph tells him he will be restored to his post in three days. The baker sees birds eating from the baskets on his head, and Joseph tells him he will be hanged.

On this small panel from around 1500, Joseph wears red, and the two dreams float in bubbles above the prisoners' heads, a device the Mauritshuis compares to a modern comic strip. In the 20th century the picture belonged to Baron Louis de Rothschild, a banker in Vienna. It was confiscated by the Nazis, returned to him in 1945, and bought by the Mauritshuis in 1955 through a New York dealer.