The plot for this picture was taken by Ivanov from the Bible, from the Book of Genesis. The grapevine and the baker – the grandees of the Egyptian pharaoh, were imprisoned, where Joseph was languishing. Once they asked him to interpret their dreams. Joseph predicted liberation to the cupbearer: “… In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and bring you back to your place.” And to the baker is death: “… In three days Pharaoh will take your head off your face and hang you on a tree.” Joseph’s words brought one of them into exultation, the other into horror. “Despair of the first, the joy of the other and cold-blooded dignity, combined with some inner elevation of the beautiful Joseph – are represented by the artist with a striking truth,” the press wrote about the picture.
The verdict of fate was heard from the mouth of Joseph, whose hands, like the scales – one is raised up, the other is lowered down. Indifferently and dispassionately he looks at the world – because fate does not care who will rise and who will fall. The heroes of the painting – the baker and the cupbearer, in fact, are represented by the artist as twins, are, in fact, the same person, in one case distorted by a grimace of despair, in the other – enlightened and happy. The darkness that fills the space, the individual details, snatched up by the bright light, intensify the tension and drama of the scene.
The picture was very favorably received in the academic environment and evaluated in the press. “If Ivanov goes ahead with such a step, he will soon be among the first-class artists of ours,” wrote one of the critics. For this work, Ivanov was awarded a large gold medal and was entitled to a trip abroad.
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