Spring 2002 | New York

An important drawing by Willem van Mieris, hitherto only known from sources, representing the biblical scene of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife has been acquired by the Morgan Library. The gouache on vellum (170 by 143 mm.) once belonged to the series of twenty highly attractive miniature-like drawings that Van Mieris made over a period of five years from 1691 to 1696. The series once belonged to the Amsterdam collector Jonas Witsen (1733-1788) and was dispersed in the sale of his estate in 1790. It was published by Albert Elen in Delineavit et Sculpsit, volume 15 in 1995; the drawing now acquired by The Pierpont Morgan Library, which had not surfaced until recently, was published by Elen in art dealer Bob Haboldt’s recent sale catalogue Northern European Old Master Drawings and Oil Sketches (New York/Paris 2001-2002), as no. 59 (with colour plate).