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Jacob sits next to a stream, holding his shepherd's staff, surrounded by his flock. Resting beneath a tree, he looks up towards heaven as if seeking guidance or strength: according to the Old Testament story, Jacob agreed to tend Laban's flock for seven years so that he could marry his daughter Rachel. Instead of paying wages, Laban promised Jacob he could keep any speckled lambs that were born. Jacob peeled the bark off wooden branches and placed them in the stream (two are floating lower left). Any sheep that drank from this water would conceive speckled lambs, which Jacob was later able to claim as his own.A copy after this painting in the Museo Cerralbo, Madrid, reveals that the National Gallery painting was substantially cut down on the left-hand side: the canvas was originally more rectangular in format and included a speckled sheep in the left foreground.
Title
Jacob with the Flock of Laban
Date
probably 1638
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 132 x W 118 cm
Accession number
NG244
Acquisition method
Lord Colborne Bequest, 1854
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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