Joseph and Potiphar's Wife

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife is the only securely attributed work in marble completed by Properzia de' Rossi, the only woman artist in the Italian Renaissance mentioned in the first edition of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Despite her inclusion, there is not much information documenting the artist's progression of skill, or who she trained under, leading up to the creation of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Instead, the artist faced much social backlash surrounding the scandalous imagery and Vasari's own account of the artist's personal connection to the artwork.