Image Details

Scala/Art Resource

Joseph is sold by his brothers to a caravan of Ishmaelite tradesmen in Dothan. In this panel from the “Raphael Bible,” the eyes of all participants are riveted on the 20 pieces of silver changing hands. On the right are the brothers, with the foremost, probably Judah, receiving payment while restraining a bedraggled Joseph. Only the Ishmaelites’ camels seem uninterested in the transaction taking place beside the now-empty pit into which Joseph had been thrown by his infuriated brothers.