''Isaac Blessing Jacob'' is a 1642 religious painting by

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (19 August 1621 – 29 September 1674) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and a favourite student of Rembrandt. He was also an etcher, an amateur poet, a collector and an adviser on art. Biography Gerbrand was born in A ...

. It shows Jacob kneeling at the bed of his blind father Isaac under the watchful eye of his mother Rebecca as he receives his brother Esau's blessing. It is in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Description

The painting shows the biblical story quite literally, with Jacob wearing his older brother's "best jacket" (which is too large) and his hands and neck have been covered in goatskin. On his back is a hunting quiver of arrows, but on the floor is a bow that has its string loose, indicating that it couldn't have been used in its current state. On a side table covered with a carpet, a still-life arrangement with napkin, salt-cellar and wine flask accompany Jacob's "tasty goat meat". The most prominent item on the table is the ewer of the Amsterdam silversmith's guild, a famous silver object that itself shares a brotherly theme. Van Eeckhout's father was a member of the silversmith's guild, and the salt cellar could be one of his creations.

Provenance

Little is known of the early history of the painting, though it is considered an example of Van Eeckhout's dependence on Rembrandt in his early years.Cat. no. 19 in ''Great Dutch Paintings from America 1990-1991'', "return" exhibition in 1990-1991 celebrating 200 years of Dutch-US foreign relations, Mauritshuis & Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990, . This painting came into The Met's collection via the

Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...

bequest in 1925. It was first researched in 1990 when the provenance was documented back to the sale of Elizabeth Valckenier, née Hooft (1712–96), widow of Wouter Valckenier. It is probably the same painting that was sold at the

Confrerie Pictura The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague (the Netherlands) by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there. History The guild of St. Luke in the Hague existed a ...

in The Hague on 24 April 1737 as a ''piece representing Isaac blessing his son Jacob by Gerbrand van den Eekhout''.

Silver cup

The choice of subject by the 21-year-old son of a goldsmith who himself chose painting over engraving and smithwork is possibly related to the high regard that the artists of Amsterdam had for this memorial cup. Van Eeckhout drew it with variations as one of several examples in a print book published by Cornelis Danckert. File:Michiel Mosyn after Gerbrand van den Eeckhout after Adam van Vianen hb 56.500.10 2.jpg, Engraving (in reverse) by Michiel Mosyn after Gerbrandt van Eeckhout File:Adam van Vianen - Memorial Gilded Ewer for Amsterdam Guild in Memory of his Brother BK-1976-75.jpg, Silver-gilt ewer by Adam van Vianen File:Isaac Blessing Jacob MET DP145918 (cropped).jpg, Detail of the ewer in ''Isaac Blessing Jacob'' Van Eeckhout is also known for using the cup again, in at least four other paintings: File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout - David Promises Bathsheba that Solomon will be his Successor.jpg, ''David Promises Bathsheba that Solomon will be his Successor'', 1646 File:De grootmoedigheid van Scipio Rijksmuseum SK-C-1631.jpeg, ''

The Continence of Scipio The Continence of Scipio, or The Clemency of Scipio, is an episode recounted by Livy of the Roman general Scipio Africanus during his campaign in Spain during the Second Punic War. He refused a generous ransom for a young female prisoner, returni ...

'', ca. 1650-55 File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout - Josef and his brothers - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Joseph and His Brothers'', 1657 File:Gerbrand van den Eeckhout - The Magnanimity of Scipio.jpg, ''The Continence of Scipio'', 1658

References

{{Reflist 1642 paintings Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paintings depicting Jacob category:Dutch Golden Age paintings Paintings depicting Isaac