Art in NYC: Zurbaran’s Jacob and His Twelve Sons at The Frick Collection

Zurbaran’s remarkable series on loan from Auckland Castle, England is on view until April 22, 2018

The Frick Collection, located in the heart of Manhattan, is presenting Francisco de Zurbaran’s incredible series of portraits of Jacob and his twelve sons from his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah, as is found in the Book of Genesis. While the depiction of these characters in the form of the life-size portraits is unusual for the time, Zurbaran followed very closely the prophecies and verses for the Old Testament to make each portrait easily recognizable by the details of the garments, or the attributes of trade, or background landscapes. The history of the portraits, which were created between 1641 and 1658, is also full of missing pages and lost provenance with the first record of it appearing only in 1722. In 1756 Richard Trevor, Bishop of Durham had acquired the series but the one portrait of Benjamin. The series was installed in the Long Dining Room at Auckland Palace in Durham, England as a political statement of religious tolerance and support of the Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753. The portrait of Benjamin hangs in Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire. Bishop Richard Trevor ordered a copy of the portrait of Benjamin done for his collection. It is remarkable that American public can see the series in full and appreciate Zurbaran’s original intentions.  Read More