Art Institute of Chicago

Laban Searching for Family Idols among the Possessions of Joseph

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

Date

1630–35

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Dating to around the time of Castiglione’s first trip to Rome, in 1630, this work is considered one of the artist’s earliest etchings. Depicted is a scene from the story of Jacob, in the book of Genesis. After fleeing Laban’s house in the middle of the night, Jacob and his wives, Rachel and Leah, are overtaken by Laban, who searches for the household idols stolen by Rachel in an attempt to protect Jacob from another twenty years of labor under her father’s rule. The image demonstrates Castiglione’s preference for patriarchal themes and his tendency to place animals in the foreground of his compositions: two sheep rest in the left-hand corner.

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