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Lot Essay
The narrative in this painting relates to the story of Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, recounted in Genesis, chapters 25 and 27. In the background on the left Esau returns hungry from a hunt and sells his birthright to his younger brother Jacob in exchange for a 'mess of potage' (a bowl of red lentils). The other elements relate to the story of Jacob's theft of Esau's blessing from their father. In the center background, the aged, blind Isaac asks Esau - his favorite - to hunt a deer (seen in the landscape background) and prepare him a dish of venison for a last meal when he will give him his blessing (and his inheritance). To the right, Rebecca tells Jacob - her favorite - what has happened, and instructs him to bring two goat kids from which she will prepare a meal for Jacob to give to their father while disguised as Esau. In the foreground, Jacob presents the dish to Isaac who, unable to tell the deception from his blindness, mistakenly gives his blessing to the younger son.
The panel has in the past been regarded as a fully autograph work by Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, and is now generally regarded as having been painted to Jacob's design in his workshop, possibly a version of a now-lost work. Jacob's output is of particular interest as he is another of the key figures in the development of painting in the Netherlands, along with his contemporary Lucas van Leyden. He was the central member of a family of painters that included his brother, Cornelis Buys I (widely accepted as being the Master of Alkmaar), his son, Dirk Jacobsz., and his nephew, Cornelis Buys II; he was also the teacher of Jan van Scorel who was active in his workshop. Relatively little, however, is known of Jacob's training and early life, although on stylistic grounds it has been suggested that he may have learned his trade as a goldsmith or designer of woodcuts (some 200 of the latter survive from his maturity). Some suggestion as to his subsequent training may, however, be inferred from the stylistic affinities of his figure types with those of the Haarlem-based Master of the Figdor Deposition (a Geertgen follower) and the more Germanic Master of the St. Bartholomew Altarpiece.
As noted by Jane Carroll, op. cit., the composition of the present panel, with its architecture dividing the various scenes, recalls Jacob's Scenes from the Life of Saint Hubert of 1510-11, with which it shares an intuitive handling of perspective - notably in the sharply receding floors. Carroll also compares the slender, almost willowy figures of both works with those of the Crucifixion of circa 1510 in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, remarking in particular on the similarities between the face and hair of the foreground figure of Jacob in the present foreground and the young horsemen on the right edge of the Crucifixion, and those between the figure of Rebecca in the present foreground and that of Saint Veronica in the Amsterdam picture. As such, Carroll suggests that the composition dates from a similar point in Jacob's early maturity, c. 1510, displaying the artist's debt to the Haarlem school of the late Gothic period.
The panel has in the past been regarded as a fully autograph work by Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, and is now generally regarded as having been painted to Jacob's design in his workshop, possibly a version of a now-lost work. Jacob's output is of particular interest as he is another of the key figures in the development of painting in the Netherlands, along with his contemporary Lucas van Leyden. He was the central member of a family of painters that included his brother, Cornelis Buys I (widely accepted as being the Master of Alkmaar), his son, Dirk Jacobsz., and his nephew, Cornelis Buys II; he was also the teacher of Jan van Scorel who was active in his workshop. Relatively little, however, is known of Jacob's training and early life, although on stylistic grounds it has been suggested that he may have learned his trade as a goldsmith or designer of woodcuts (some 200 of the latter survive from his maturity). Some suggestion as to his subsequent training may, however, be inferred from the stylistic affinities of his figure types with those of the Haarlem-based Master of the Figdor Deposition (a Geertgen follower) and the more Germanic Master of the St. Bartholomew Altarpiece.
As noted by Jane Carroll, op. cit., the composition of the present panel, with its architecture dividing the various scenes, recalls Jacob's Scenes from the Life of Saint Hubert of 1510-11, with which it shares an intuitive handling of perspective - notably in the sharply receding floors. Carroll also compares the slender, almost willowy figures of both works with those of the Crucifixion of circa 1510 in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, remarking in particular on the similarities between the face and hair of the foreground figure of Jacob in the present foreground and the young horsemen on the right edge of the Crucifixion, and those between the figure of Rebecca in the present foreground and that of Saint Veronica in the Amsterdam picture. As such, Carroll suggests that the composition dates from a similar point in Jacob's early maturity, c. 1510, displaying the artist's debt to the Haarlem school of the late Gothic period.