The subject is taken from the Book of Genesis, where Joseph’s jealous brothers tried to abandon him in a pit in the desert. They then decided to sell him when ‘a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilhead with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt’. The painting shows the moment of financial transaction with the Ishmaelites. It was typical of Bourdon to pay attention to precise details, such as the presence of the camels, and this sense of accuracy in the story could easily have been derived from Nicolas Poussin (1593-1665) whom Bourdon imitated. The picture is a good example of the artist’s early Parisian period when he had achieved some originality. Typical of the artist in this period is the smoky blue tonality combined with strongly painted figures which recall the artist’s earlier Roman work.

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