Isaac blessing Jacob

Isaac blessing JacobThe subject is taken from Genesis, Chapter 27, which tells how Jacob tricked his dying father, the blind Isaac, into giving him the blessing that rightfully belonged to his elder brother, Esau. Isaac's wife, Rebekah, is shown looking on. The deception a simple matter of applying animal skins to imitate Esau's hairy arms was her idea as Jacob was her favourite son. Desenfans bought this work in 1785 believing it to be by Rembrandt. The picture was

daughter of the Earl of Bedford

her beauty is of the people

however the sitter does not seem to be the same

Jaffé gives c

a hill to the east of the city

as if a sunset has been sealed in glass

He probably first trained with his father and is said to have also studied with Frans Hals

in the 1950s

in secret and against the wishes of his family

the pictures illustrate the contrasting effects on landscape of the Roman and Greek civilisations

a man points to his forehead showing the exact location of the wound on Goliath's head

The inscription is a false signature (apparently added by the artist) referring to Jean-Alexis Grimou (1678-1733)