IN:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Partit\u00fara Irodalomtudom\u00e1nyi foly\u00f3irat, Volume XIX.\u00a0, Issue 1, 2024, page 3-20 ,\u00a0ISSN 1336-7307<\/span><\/p>\n DOI:\u00a0<\/strong>10.17846\/PA.2024.19.1.3-20<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph\u2019s story in the Bible is a \u201cwell-constructed literary work in its own right\u201d, which has become a reference point for several texts and works of art. Thomas Mann\u2019s great novel stands out among the representations, which undoubtedly has one of the most complex portrayals of Joseph\u2019s character in literature. One of the most significant motifs shared by the biblical story and the novel is the description of the decorative coat given to Joseph by Jacob. In both texts, the \u201ccoat of many colors\u201d evokes strong emotional and symbolic meanings in the family network of relationships, in which both aesthetics and the rules of clothing have prominent roles. The Hebrew expression used for garment \u2013 ketonet passim \u2013 makes it absolutely clear that Israel\u2019s gift is a uniquely designed, elegant piece of clothing whose aesthetic appearance, beyond its use as a tool, is at least as important as following the moral norms that the wearing of the garment entails. Could we even call the multicolored coat \u2013 in addition to the symbolic representation of Jewish birthright \u2013 an example of high art in fashion history? The paper is concerned with the \u201cinteractions\u201d between the coat an the characters who wear it (or who are deprived of this possibility), how they assign meanings to it and how they interact with it accordingly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n