Joseph's Dream

A dark stable. Mary lies asleep in the straw with the child wrapped up beside her. Joseph sits slumped at her side, and an angel in white lays a hand on his shoulder.

This is Joseph's second dream, after the visit of the wise men: “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt” (Matthew 2:13). The paint is laid on thickly and roughly. The panel is dated 1645; how much of it is by Rembrandt's own hand and how much by his workshop is disputed.