The Dream of Joseph

Baciccio’s incomparably fluid and brilliantly colored style represented the principle alternative to the academic manner that dominated late century Roman painting. His monumental frescoes, famously that of the vault of the Church of the Gesù, mark the emergence of an important strain of late Baroque decoration. Contemporary with those frescoes, as well as the Collection’s painting of Rinaldo and Armida, this drawing conveys the essence of Baciccio’s style in its dramatic space, rhythmic animation. and lavish technique.