Joseph's dream, or Joseph, son of Jacob, in prison interpreting the dreams of the baker and cupbearer (El sueño de José o José, hijo de Jacob, en la cárcel interpretando los sueños del panadero y el copero)

For this composition, Mariano Barbasán used a photograph in which he and his siblings dramatized an episode from the life of Joseph, son of Jacob, in prison. According to the Book of Genesis (Chapter 40), Joseph was a slave in Pharaoh’s court. He found himself unfairly imprisoned along with two other slaves. The painting depicts the moment when Joseph interprets their dreams, predicting that in three days the cupbearer would be free and the baker would be dead.
Thanks to this work, Barbasán was supported in 1889 by the Provincial Council of Zaragoza (Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza) to further his painting studies at the Spanish Academy in Rome. This painting has a calm and simple composition with almost Impressionist short-brushstroke color quality.