JACOB AND ESAU

Rebekah Complains to God About Her Pregnancy, Rebekah Hears the Women Discuss the Birth of Twins Jacob and Esau, Esau Trades His Birthright for Food, Isaac Asks Esau to Hunt for His Favorite Food, Rebekah Tells Jacob Her Scheme, Rebekah Has Jacob Pretend to Be Esau to Obtain Isaac's Final Blessing

Commentary: This complex story, with six scenes, returns to the theme of the divinely-favored younger son, Jacob, and the rejected older son, Esau (Romans 9.10-13). Here, the mother, Rebekah, intervenes to trick her own husband, Isaac, into making her (and God's) favorite, Jacob, Isaac's heir. Years earlier, Esau had rashly renounced his birthright to sate his hunger. In the end, Esau, the hunter, goes off into desert exile, and Jacob the shepherd, becomes father of the Jewish tribes (hunters versus shepherds). The story also reflects the ancient belief that the birth of twins was impossible, and that one child must be of divine, and thus superior, origin. (The story has no equivalent in the Koran.)

Composition: This panel is famous for its setting; an elegant neo-classical Brunelleschi-like loggia shown in geometric perspective, making it an epitome of early Renaissance aesthetic ideals. Donatello's Feast of Herod frieze (1425) may have been an inspiration. The neo-Roman composite capitals of the building are among the first depicted in Renaissance art, and the arches, low walls and steps help to delineate the narrative scenes. Jacob and Esau's clothes resemble contemporary Florentine youth costume. The beautifuly-modeled figures move through the airy setting like actors in a stage drama, the perspective floor grid adding to that impression. Only the complexity of the narrative works against the beauty of line and form.

MALE PROPHET (statuette)
A tall young beardless prophet, perhaps Jacob, reads from a long scroll. Art historian Kenneth Clark described the handsome figure as resembling "a romantic poet".

RACHEL? (statuette)
A short, young woman, possibly Rachel, Jacob's second but favorite wife, mother of Joseph and Benjamin and a matriarch of Israel (Ruth 4.11). As Jacob tricked his father to get his blessing, Rachel tricked her father by stealing the household gods (Genesis 31.19). In the role of a prophet, she extends a long scroll.

BALDING, BEARDED MAN (head)
A bearded, slightly balding man resembling a Greek philosopher, perhaps Isaac, peers right. His collar has "Arabic" lettering.

LORENZO GHIBERTI (head)
Ghiberti shows himself in his late years, a wise and canny old artist, nearly bald. His earlier, New Testament, doors, have a younger self-portrait.