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Word of St. Ephrem the Syrian on Joseph the Beautiful
Exhibition June 15 − August 1, 2023
The exhibition will be the first to feature a folio of one of Russia's most widely translated texts, the Tale of the Beautiful Joseph, whose creation is attributed to the Venerable Ephrem the Syrian.
This manuscript is part of a collection of Old Believers created in the first half of the 19th century in an eschatological spirit, with texts of a moralizing nature.
In The Tale of the Beautiful Joseph, the story of the life of the biblical righteous patriarch Joseph of the Old Testament is fleshed out with details that add greatly to the text of the Book of Genesis. Twenty-five vivid miniature illustrations by an original master, like the text itself, tell the story of Jacob's son Joseph, whom his brothers sold into slavery in Egypt. At court Joseph interprets dreams to Pharaoh, predicting seven years of crop failure and famine. Joseph's beauty is repeatedly recalled in the work - she is noticed by the merchants who bought him from his brothers, she attracts Potiphar, who is buying himself a slave, and she seduces his wife, who seeks to seduce the young man.
In the story of the life of the forefather Joseph the author of the "Word" saw a prototype of the birth of Christ by the Virgin Mary and the Second Coming on the Day of Judgment. Joseph's brothers, in their envy and desire to kill him, are likened to the Jews who condemned Jesus Christ to death. This interpretation of the biblical story in The Tale of the Beautiful Joseph determined its belonging to the texts that, according to the Church Statute, were read during the first three days of Holy Week and prepared believers for reflections about the last days and hours of the Savior's life on the earth.
This manuscript is part of a collection of Old Believers created in the first half of the 19th century in an eschatological spirit, with texts of a moralizing nature.
In The Tale of the Beautiful Joseph, the story of the life of the biblical righteous patriarch Joseph of the Old Testament is fleshed out with details that add greatly to the text of the Book of Genesis. Twenty-five vivid miniature illustrations by an original master, like the text itself, tell the story of Jacob's son Joseph, whom his brothers sold into slavery in Egypt. At court Joseph interprets dreams to Pharaoh, predicting seven years of crop failure and famine. Joseph's beauty is repeatedly recalled in the work - she is noticed by the merchants who bought him from his brothers, she attracts Potiphar, who is buying himself a slave, and she seduces his wife, who seeks to seduce the young man.
In the story of the life of the forefather Joseph the author of the "Word" saw a prototype of the birth of Christ by the Virgin Mary and the Second Coming on the Day of Judgment. Joseph's brothers, in their envy and desire to kill him, are likened to the Jews who condemned Jesus Christ to death. This interpretation of the biblical story in The Tale of the Beautiful Joseph determined its belonging to the texts that, according to the Church Statute, were read during the first three days of Holy Week and prepared believers for reflections about the last days and hours of the Savior's life on the earth.
