Getty Museum
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
Creator
Master of Jean de MandevilleFrench Illuminator · 1350–1370
All works by this person →The Master of Jean de Mandeville, an anonymous French illuminator, is thus known for his work on a manuscript of *Mandeville's Travels* now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. A prolific court artist, he worked in France in the circle of King John the Good and King Charles V from around 1350 to 1370. He often painted the costumes of his slight figures in grisaille and rendered the figures' faces
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1360–1370
- Medium
- Tempera colors, gold, and ink
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Manuscripts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- cc901fb8-31d7-4600-943f-129b9b10921e
The miniature prefacing the Genesis story of the birth of Isaac's twin sons Esau and Jacob depicts the episode as if it were occurring in the 1300s. Rebecca, wearing a noblewoman's wimple, reclines in a fourteenth-century-style bed after giving birth. As she twists beneath the grisaille bedsheets, the carefully rendered draperies reveal the shape of her body. Against a brightly patterned ground, the midwives prepare the newborn infants for their bath. The women's gestures suggest that they are conversing with one another, lending liveliness to the scene. In the biblical text, Esau is described as particularly hairy at birth, a detail the illuminator chose not to include. Neither did the illuminator raise the theme of rivalry that would dominate the brothers' relationship.
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