Joseph tells his dreams to Jacob

In a cosy atmosphere, with his mother Rachel sitting in bed, Joseph tells his dreams to his parents and a few of his brothers.

To his brothers the dreams were yet another reason to hate their brother: not only they but even the sun and the moon were to bow for him. His father Jacob at first rebuked him, but he silently felt the dreams might be a sign of things to come.

Rembrandt made several drawings on this subject. He may have been inspired by this engraving by Lucas van Leyden.

In this painting on paper Rembrandt used but a few colors, mostly gray and brown. The name for that technique is grisaille.