Jacob’s Dream is a oil on canvas painting by Arent de Gelder, likely dating from between 1710 and 1715.
Subject edit
The subject is a dream episode in the Book of Genesis often described as Jacob’s Ladder. The patriarch Jacob lies sleeping in the ground while above him a beam of light shines down from heaven. One angel hovers within the beam with wings outspread while another appears to stand in the clouds behind him. This treatment of the subject is much simpler than many others which for example emphasise the multiplicity of angels. In de Gelder’s work most of the field of view is suffused in brilliant heavenly light or sunk in deep earthly darkness.
Attribution edit
Arent de Gelder, Rembrandt's last pupil, dwells on the homely side, recreating the scene in a literal-minded, almost comic way with details like the stone pillow, the rustic drinking flask and rough clothes, lovingly described. We see a tired traveller huddled in a corner, surrounded by thorny trees and a wide, dark and inhospitable landscape. We are perhaps more aware of the dreamer than the dream. For De Gelder imagines the glory of Heaven as an effect of landscape. There is no procession of angels striding up and down; rather a burst of light in the top corner as if the moon is just breaking through the clouds. The only distinct angel (held steady by an awesome wing-span) is painted as a simple triangular shape made up of vertical streaks. It appears more like a veiled apparition than a heavenly body, as if this figure (and the vision as a whole) were just a trick of the light.
The picture was much admired as a work by Rembrandt until Richter rejected the attribution in 1880. Hofstede de Groot recognised the hand of De Gelder in 1914, and the signature was discovered during cleaning in 1946. Sumowski suggests a date of 1710/15.
https://prints.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/products/pod443251
https://dulwich-picture-gallery-i.rkdstudies.nl/van-dyck-hanneman/arent-de-gelder/
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/jacob-s-dream/qwE3uU60Nszlsg?hl=en
And painting by Allston https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IkcTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127&dq=arent+de+gelder+jacobs+dream&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt6sCBkbSDAxUT8rsIHUHQDKI4ChDoAXoECAkQAw#v=onepage&q=arent%20de%20gelder%20jacobs%20dream&f=false also https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=museBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111&dq=arent+de+gelder+jacobs+dream&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiKzaHZkbSDAxWQg_0HHeBtDIs4FBDoAXoECAkQAw#v=onepage&q=arent%20de%20gelder%20jacobs%20dream&f=false
Signature discovered in 1946 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BJdNDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA209&dq=arent+de+gelder+jacobs+dream&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt6sCBkbSDAxUT8rsIHUHQDKI4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=onepage&q=arent%20de%20gelder%20jacobs%20dream&f=false