A Wooded River Landscape with Jacob, Laban, and His Daughters
1661
Medium
Pen and brown ink, with brush and black, brown and gray wash, and black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on cream laid card
Dimensions
20.1 × 30.2 cm (7 15/16 × 11 15/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149029
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Claude Lorraine was lured from his northern birthplace, in the French province of Lorraine, to the warmth of Italy, and he made the landscape of Italy his primary focus in paintings, prints, and drawings. This sun-drenched landscape with a Roman aqueduct in the background is used as a setting for the story from the book of Genesis in which Jacob offers his flocks to Laban in return for the hand of his youngest daughter, Rachel.
About the Artist
Claude Lorrain · 1604–1682
Claude Lorrain (c. 1600-1682), born Claude Gellée in the village of Chamagne in northeastern France's Duchy of Lorraine, stands as one of the most influential landscape painters in Western art history. Orphaned by age twelve, his journey to artistic mastery was unconventional—beginning with apprenticeships in pastry-making and inlay work before destiny led him to Rome around 1620, where he would s...