Uncertain Signifiers: 'An Affective Fantasy' in Jacopo Pontormo's Joseph in Egypt

Abstract

In spite of its renown, Jacopo Pontormo's (1494-1556/57) painting Joseph in Egypt (ca. 1518) still calls for deeper art historical consideration. The painting does not open its reservoirs of meaning very easily, and art historians have left many interesting questions untouched in the old and in more recent research literature. In a way, it is surprising that this picture, with its bellezza dell'invenzione ('the beauty of inventions', as defined by Giorgio Vasari), 1 has not received much attention for decades, especially when we take into account the development of methods and tools in art history over the last thirty years. As such, many questions are open for discussion, even when we think about normal art historical research and leave semiotic analysis untouched. I am going to apply some methods of semiotics in order to illuminate this old but still vital object of study.