The tapestries of the Story of Joseph, a masterpiece of Italian production, were commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de'Medici to decorate the Sala dei Duecento in the Palazzo Ducale (known as the Palazzo Vecchio from 1549), the former seat of the council of the Florentine Republic. The set was conceived to provide a surrounding decorative scheme for the walls of the room. The biblical theme of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers but became their benefactor (Genesis 37–50), is a metaphor for the Medici, who were forced to leave Florence but returned in triumph.

Joseph, now a dignitary at the pharaoh's court in Egypt, reveals himself to his brothers, who betrayed him and sold him into slavery (Genesis 45:4). Joseph is at the left, on the marble steps of a classical-style building, as his brothers rush forward to beg his forgiveness, burying their faces in their hands in shame. Joseph is exalted as a powerful ruler but also as a clement, magnanimous benefactor toward his repentant brothers, who represent the hostile Florentines, later won over by Cosimo's good government.