Description
This scene of kinship between men has been interpreted as the biblical figure Jacob granting permission to his youngest son, Benjamin, to travel with his brothers to Egypt. The artist, an unknown follower of Rembrandt van Rijn, conveyed Jacob’s ambivalent emotional state by presenting the boy with his back to the viewer. Rembrandt and his followers treated this subject many times, as the Protestant art market in the Dutch Republic valued scenes of faith and loyalty but lacked the Catholic interest in martyrdom.
Provenance
Herbert L. Terrell (died 1909), New York; by descent to his daughter Bertha Terrell Buckley (died 1937), Moundsmere Manor, Basingstoke; sold Sotheby’s, London, 23 June, 1937, no. 122, as Eli and Samuel by Barent Fabritius to Knoedler for £2,900 [for buyer and price see Art Prices Current 1937]; M. Knoedler and Co., New York and London; sold to the Art Institute, 1937.
Accession Number
87633
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
113 × 110.5 cm (52 9/16 × 43 1/2 in.); Framed: 161 × 139.1 × 8.6 cm (63 3/8 × 54 3/4 × 3 3/8 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Wilson L. Mead Fund
