Isaac (이삭)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antonio Bellucci 1654 – 1726

Rebecca at the Well

oil on canvas (176 × 135 cm) — c. 1700

  Schloss Weissenstein, Pommersfelden

Antonio Bellucci biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 24:22

(창 24:22)

낙타가 마시기를 다하매 그가 반 세겔 무게의 금 코걸이 한 개와 열 세겔 무게의 금 손목고리 한 쌍을 그에게 주며

 

At a well one of Abraham's servants inspects a possible spouse for Abraham's son Isaac. This Rebecca turned out to be not only attractive but also generous. The servant, probably Eliezer, gives her bracelets and earrings.

The painting has also been attributed to Pietro Liberi, one of Bellucci's teachers in Venice.

 

 

 

 

Salomon de Bray 1597 – 1664

Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

oil on canvas (90 × 156 cm) — 1660

  Musée de la Chartreuse, Douai

Salomon de Bray biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 24:46

(창 24:46)

그가 급히 물동이를 어깨에서 내리며 이르되 마시라 내가 당신의 낙타에게도 마시게 하리라 하기로 내가 마시매 그가 또 낙타에게도 마시게 한지라

 

Eliezer had been sent out by Abraham to find a wife for his son Isaac. At a well he meets the beautiful Rebecca. Eliezer tests her by asking for some water. She convinces him of her goodness by not only giving him to drink but also his camels.

Two preparatory drawings from November 1659 also still exist.

 

 

 

 

Arent de Gelder 1645 – 1727

Isaac meets Rebekah

oil on canvas (59 × 69 cm) — c. 1665

  Museum of the City of Brussels - Maison du Roi, Brussels

Arent de Gelder biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 24:66

(창 24:66)

종이 그 행한 일을 다 이삭에게 아뢰매

 

Abraham tells his servant Eliezer to go and find a wife for his son Isaac, who is already 40 years old. The woman may not be a Canaanite, so Eliezer travels to Mesopotamia, the land Abraham left many years before.

At a source he meets the beautiful Rebecca (Rebekah), the granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor. She gets permission to leave, and travels back to Palestine with Eliezer.

Back home Isaac is walking in the fields as he sees the group approaching. The impatient Rebecca jumps from her camel and covers her face.

De Gelder shows the moment when Eliezer briefs Isaac. In the background Rebecca's company is waiting.

It is uncertain when De Gelder made this painting. Most experts consider it one of his first works, as the figures are still a bit clumsy. He may have taken the subject from his master Rembrandt, who around 1665 was working on his Jewish bride, after the story of Isaac and Rebecca.

 

 

 

 

 

Govert Flinck 1615 – 1660

Isaac Blesses Jacob

oil on canvas (117 × 141 cm) — 1638

  Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Govert Flinck biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 27:23

(창 27:23)

그의 손이 형 에서의 손과 같이 털이 있으므로 분별하지 못하고 축복하였더라 창27:16

 

The old and blind Isaac sits in his bed and blesses his son Jacob. Standing next to them is Isaac's wife Rebecca.

Tradition had it that it was Esau who was to be blessed, Jacob's older twin brother. But Rebecca favoured Jacob and wanted him to be blessed. She advised him to put goat skin on his hands, in order to make them feel as hairy as Esau's. The trick was successful, even though Isaac recognized Jacob's voice.

This work of Govert Flinck still shows the influence of Flinck's teacher Rembrandt. Later in his career Flinck's style would become smoother.

 

 

 

 

Bertram of Minden ca. 1340 – 1414/15

Isaac asks Esau to hunt for venison

mixed techniques on panel (84 × 56 cm) — 1383

  Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Bertram of Minden biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 27:3

(창 27:3)

그런즉 네 기구 곧 화살통과 활을 가지고 들에 가서 나를 위하여 사냥하여

 

Old Isaac is almost blind when he calls his son Esau. He wants Esau to go hunting with his bow and get him a nice piece of meat. Isaac promises to bless Esau as a reward.

In the background Isaac's wife Rebecca is listening. She quickly informs Esau's brother Jacob and advises him to be faster than his brother.

The panel is part of Master Bertram's main work, the Grabow altarpiece.

 

 

 

Raphael 1483 – 1520

Isaac and Rebecca spied upon by Abimelech

fresco — 1518-19

  Stanze e Loggia di Raffaello, Vatican City

Raphael biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 26:8

(창 26:8)

이삭이 거기 오래 거주하였더니 이삭이 그 아내 리브가를 껴안은 것을 블레셋 왕 아비멜렉이 창으로 내다본지라

 

During a famine Isaac and his wife Rebecca lived in the city of Gerar, where the Philistine Abimelech was king. Rebecca was very attractive, and Isaac feared the jealousy of his neighbours, who might kill him and then take his widow. He therefore presented her as his sister.

In this fresco, made by Raphael's assistants, Abimelech catches the pair cuddling. With some difficulty he can be seen watching from the window in the top right from the center.

The king summoned Isaac before him, who explained the situation. Abimelech then ordered that anyone who touched Isaac or Rebecca was to be put to death.

For a biblical scene the couple's entangled legs are quite frivolous.

The fresco is part of a series on stories from the Old Testament. It was made in a loggia on the second floor of the Pope's palace.

 

 

 

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669

The Jewish Bride

oil on canvas (121 × 166 cm) — ca. 1665

  Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn biography

 

This work is linked to Genesis 26:8

(창 26:8)

이삭이 거기 오래 거주하였더니 이삭이 그 아내 리브가를 껴안은 것을 블레셋 왕 아비멜렉이 창으로 내다본지라

 

Possibly Isaac and his wife Rebecca (Rebekah), but more likely a painting of two people in an old testamental setting. A 19th century art dealer analyzed the scene as a father giving a necklace to his daughter who is going to be married, hence Jewish Bride.

Another 19th century theory has Jephta and his daughter as the subjects. Jephta had promised God to sacrifice the first person who would meet him after a battle. Unfortunately, his own daughter became that person (Judges 11:35). She seemed to carry her fate with dignity.

If the painting does represent Isaac and Rebecca, it is probably based on Genesis 26:8. Isaac lives in the city of Gerar, in the south of the land Canaan. He has his neighbors believe that his wife is really his sister, because he fears that they might kill him out of jealousy his pretty wife. However, after a while the king catches them behaving as Rembrandt paints them: ‘sporting', as the KJV has it.

The cloths have very warm colors and are painted in great detail. Rembrandt used a painting-knife to apply thick layers of paint, a technique known as impasto. This resulted in even more realistic folds in the clothing.