Johann Carl Loth

The colours are quite representative of the painting, although it is slightly less contrasted than it appears in the catalogue illustration. The canvas has been relined and the stretcher is new. The painting has been cleaned quite recently but the varnish is slightly opaque. The paint surface is generally in very good condition, the brushwork retaining much of its original freshness (particularly where the paint was applied wet on wet). Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals scattered localised retouchings throughout but these are not very significant and have been sensitively done, so are not visible to the naked eye. There is a repaired horizontal tear lower right, above the figures’ feet, but not other significant damages. Retouchings appear to be concentrated in the darker areas, especially in the background, but the painting can be hung as it is. The gilt wood frame is in good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The subject of Joseph interpreting Dreams was treated by Loth on a number of occasions, as it evidently enjoyed some popularity among his patrons. Although this particular composition was previously unknown, Gerhard Ewald lists a number of paintings of the same subject in his monograph on the artist.¹  The Old Testament scene is taken from Genesis (39: 7-20) and shows a young Joseph interpreting dreams in prison, accompanied by the Pharaoh's elderly baker and young cupbearer. The same figures are shown, in a slightly different disposition, in Loth's painting formerly in Braunschweig, now known through an engraving by Jakob Wilhelm Heckenauer.²

A painting of 'Giuseppe che spiega li sogni' is recorded in an inventory of Palazzo Baglioni, Venice, in the first half of the 19th century. The painting had previously been listed in an inventory of 28 February 1787 (as 'Sogni di Giuseppe') in the collection of Giovanni Paolo Baglioni at San Cassiano, Venice. The painting remains untraced but its dimensions (given as '4 piede 3 once x 3 piede 9 once') are rather too vague to securely identify it with the present canvas.

1. G. Ewald, Johann Carl Loth 1632-1698, Amsterdam 1965, p. 63, cat. nos. 68-72.
2. Ewald, op. cit., cat. no. 70, the engraving reproduced plate 53, no. 70.