# Joseph Greeting his Brothers

- By: Pier Francesco Mola (Italian, 1612-1666)
- Date: c. 1656
- Medium: Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over red chalk, on buff laid paper, laid down on cream wove card
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 14.1 × 22.5 cm (5 9/16 × 8 7/8 in.)
- Culture: Italy
- Credit line: Purchased with funds provided by Anne Searle Bent
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/201555)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/7cce7db13ed3fa396940ba649b309b21.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This drawing is among the earliest of 16 preparatory works on paper that Pier Francesco Mola completed for his large-scale fresco in Rome’s Palazzo Quirinale. Unlike Mola’s later studies of the scene and the fresco itself, here Joseph is shown embracing his brother Benjamin. The piece is further distinguished by Mola’s inclusion of architectural and landscape elements in the background, in addition to his use of brown wash, a defining feature that sets the drawing apart from others done in pen or chalk.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0