User:Lotta Frittata/Joseph and Potiphar's Wife (Properzia de' Rozzi)

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
Artist	Properzia de' Rossi
Year	1525-1526
Medium	Marble
Location	Museo de San Petronio, Bologna

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife is the only securely attributed work in marble completed by Properzia de' Rossi, the only woman artist in the Italian Renaissance mentioned in the first edition of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Despite her inclusion, there is not much information documenting the artist's progression of skill, or who she trained under, leading up to the creation of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife.

Background

The public sculptural work was carved as one of the artist's large-scale projects through commission for the Bolognese church of Saint Petronio, following her success from her early beginnings of carving peach-pits and plum-stones. She gained the commission through her unnamed husband, who vouched for her to the wardens of the cathedral. De' Rozzi was hired to create multiple reliefs, some of which are believed to be that of the sibyls and angels on the right door of the basilica. However, the Joseph and Potiphar's Wife panel is the only one that can be given secure credit towards the artist.

Subject

The relief is a depiction of an early scene from the Old Testament book of Genesis in the moment the enslaved Joseph flees from Potiphar's Wife after she attempts to seduce him. She can be seen grabbing at his clothing in which she uses the ripped piece as evidence to falsely accuse him of raping her. Hearing this, Potiphar then imprisons Joseph.

This panel was originally planned to sit at the façade of the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna and would have served as a reminder to resist temptation and maintain piousness.

Influence

It is possible that de' Rossi was inspired by other artists when making carving this piece. Marble as an artistic material would require specialized skill to work with. Colored marble was often preferred for outdoor decoration of architecture, but the material's rigidness would make carving it a challenge due to its susceptibility to fracture. As a result, sculptors would need to be aware of adding specified support features to prevent deterioration. The succession of strokes present in Joseph and Potiphar's Wife are rhythmic, creating diagonal and vertical lines similar to carving techniques used by Raphael combined with the soft finish of Correggio's style. The composition flows through an invisible, diagonal line that connects from the top of Joseph's head, ending at the tips of the toes of Potiphar's Wife. Additionally, the anatomical accuracies of the relief are similar to that of Michelangelo, showcasing the artist's knowledge and technical ability. This combination of techniques synthesizes into the artist's own personal style, showcasing a very modernistic concept of artmaking.

Historical Context

Women artists were not commonplace in the Renaissance and due to its physical nature, sculpture was an especially rare medium for female artists as it was deemed unsuitable for them to practice. This made de' Rossi so notable as, despite knowing this, she pursued the practice regardless and is now considered one of the first well-documented women sculptors to work in the Italian Renaissance. Reflecting some views of the time, publisher Antonio Saffi even went so far as to argue the exceptional rarity of finding a woman who was able to not only understand the medium enough to work it, but to apply the theoretical principals of the 'most difficult art' with 'perfect success' while standing in front of the members of the of Bologna’s Accademia di Belli Arti in June of 1830.

During de' Rossi's life, it was common for churches to use visual stories to promote Christianity in their regions. Imagery found in artwork made biblical stories and lessons accessible to even the illiterate and helped regions promote a curated representation of their character. The commissioner of the artist, the Fabbrica of San Petronio, would have chosen the subject matter of the work for de' Rossi. She would have been expected to produce exactly what was requested of her, as Renaissance artists were not at liberty to indulge in personal exploration of their subject matter or artistic practice.

Vasari's Lives and Its Interpretations

The relief panel was completed in a brief period in the artist's life that received criticism which sensationalized both the work and the artist, taking precedence over details regarding the artist's training. Despite her lack of choice in subject matter, the scandalous imagery of Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, alongside it's technically strong execution, caused speculation of de' Rozzi's personal life at the time.

Vasari’s narrative surrounding De’ Rossi at the time indicated the Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife panel to be the “pinnacle” of the artist’s career regarding both her ambition and skill. Despite this, author Frederika Jacobs argues that the scandalously popularized social view of de’ Rossi’s connection to the San Petronio panel is supplemented by, and even originated from, Vasari’s own views of the panel and artist as presented within this section of his Vite:  

"To the vast delight of all Bologna, she made an exquisite scene, wherein - because at the time the poor woman was madly enamored of a handsome young man, who seemed to care but little for her- she represented the wife of Pharoah's Chamberlain, who, burning with love for Joseph, and almost in despair after so much persuasion, finally strips his garment from him with a womanly grace that defies description. This work was esteemed by all to be most beautiful, and it was a great satisfaction to herself, thinking that with this illustration from the Old Testament she had partly quenched the fire of her own passion."

Social Interpretation

Upon the completion of the Joseph and Potiphar panel, many believed de' Rossi, a married woman, bore resemblance to Potiphar's Wife– not only in appearance but also in character, drawing upon various coincidental parallels and assumptions. Some even saying that the artist's own features represented those of Potiphar's wife, and the features of Joseph are those of a young man who de' Rossi must have sought out with fail.

The artist also faced harassment from fellow artist Amico Aspertini, who had also been commissioned by San Petronio. Vasari writes that he took these actions “out of envy always dissuaded her and went so far with his malignity, ever speaking ill of her to the Wardens, that she was paid a most beggarly price for her work”. Quin speculates that, due to degradation that this harassment played a part in de’ Rossi’s choice to abruptly switch mediums from sculpting marble to engraving at this time.

Following the social turmoil, de' Rossi later refused to continue her working connection with the building and her name was removed from the Fabbrica records. According to author Sally Quin, there are no records indicating further artistic productions from De' Rossi after her work on the basilica.

References

• Jacobs, Frederika H. (1993). "The Construction of a Life: Madonna Properzia De' Rossi 'Schultrice' Bolognese". Word & Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, pp.122-132.
• Chadwick, Whitney, Women, Art, and Society, Thames and Hudson, London, 1990
• King, Catherine. "Looking a Sight: Sixteenth-Century Portraits of Woman Artists", Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 1995, 58. Bd., H. 3 (1995), pp. 381–406
• Quin, Sally. "Describing the Female Sculptor in Early Modern Italy: An Analysis of the vita of Properzia de’ Rossi in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives", Blackwell Publishing, 2012.
• Pulham, Patricia. "Marmoreal Sisterhoods: Classical Statuary in Nineteenth-Century Women’s Writing", 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century 2016(22). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ntn.763
• Dabbs, Julia K. (2009). "Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550-1800: An Anthology". Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Company. pp. 50–58. ISBN 978-0-7546-5431-5..