Joseph Makes Himself Known to His Brethren
Gustave Doré, 1866 · Genesis 45:1
The passage
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
Genesis 45:1
About this plate
Joseph stands at the top of a short flight of steps with both arms opened wide and low, palms up. He is dressed as an Egyptian official, collar and headcloth and all. One brother has gone down on his knees and buried his face in the robe. Another kneels lower on the steps. The rest are scattered below, some reaching, some backing off.
The room is enormous. Columns two storeys high on both sides, carved lintels, painted hieroglyphs, two great sculpted faces looking down from above, and a stone sphinx on a plinth in the bottom left corner. The brothers are small in it.
The verse is about clearing the room. Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
He got the Egyptians out. He could not get Egypt out. That sphinx is still in the corner of the room, and it is still watching.
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