A hole in the ground covered with a stone is uncovered and shown to shepherds (the discovery of Joseph?). Colour aquatint with etching by J.G. Prestel, 1783, after Z.J. van Helmont.

In the foreground a man lifts the circular stone lid off a hole in the ground. He shows the hole to a seated man, who reacts with horror. Around are sheep and shepherdesses. Possibly the episode in the Old Testament (Genesis 37.28) in which Midianite merchants (though here shown as pastoralists) discover Joseph in the pit into which his brothers had thrown him. The woman pointing is indicating the arriving Ishmaelites to whom they would sell Joseph