Jacob’s Ladder, illustration for “La Piedra Gloriosa”
- Date
- 1655
- made in
- Amsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
- Classification
- Prints
- Collection
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- plate: 4 5/16 x 2 13/16 in. (10.9 x 7.1 cm)
sheet (sheet is cut into platemark on lower edge): 4 5/16 x 2 7/8 in. (10.9 x 7.3 cm) - Credit Line
- The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and funds given by Ilene C. Edison and Dr. Alan Pestronk
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 326:1991
NOTES
Rembrandt van Rijn produced this image of the Biblical story of Jacob's Ladder for a book by the Seraphic rabbi Menasseh ben Israel, who established the first Hebrew press in Holland. One can just barely make out the figure of Jacob on the ground asleep envisaging "a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it" (Genesis 28:12). The artist evokes night and the foggy aspects of dreaming by heavily inking this impression.
Provenance
Adam Gottlieb Thiermann (d. c.1860-61), Berlin, Germany [1]
Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin, acquired from Thiermann estate [2]
George Biörklund (1887-c.1975), Stockholm, Sweden [3]
- 1991
James A. Bergquist, Newton Centre, MA, USA
1991 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from James A. Bergquist [4]
Notes:
[1] Thiermann's collector's mark [TH within a circle, Lugt 2434] appears on the verso of the print.
[2] The Berlin Kupferstichkabinett acquired Thiermann's collection from his widow in either 1860 or 1861. A collection stamp [Lugt 1633 & 1609] and duplicate stamps from the Köninglichen Museen zu Berlin [Lugt 2482] are present on the verso of the print.
[3] George Biörklund's collector's mark appears on the verso of the print [Lugt 1138c]. The work does not appear in the catalogue of his 1957 sale ["Kupferstiche, Radierungen und Holzschnitte alter Meister." Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, June 4, 1957].
[4] Invoice from James A. Bergquist dated September 3, 1991 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 4, 1991.
Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin, acquired from Thiermann estate [2]
George Biörklund (1887-c.1975), Stockholm, Sweden [3]
- 1991
James A. Bergquist, Newton Centre, MA, USA
1991 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from James A. Bergquist [4]
Notes:
[1] Thiermann's collector's mark [TH within a circle, Lugt 2434] appears on the verso of the print.
[2] The Berlin Kupferstichkabinett acquired Thiermann's collection from his widow in either 1860 or 1861. A collection stamp [Lugt 1633 & 1609] and duplicate stamps from the Köninglichen Museen zu Berlin [Lugt 2482] are present on the verso of the print.
[3] George Biörklund's collector's mark appears on the verso of the print [Lugt 1138c]. The work does not appear in the catalogue of his 1957 sale ["Kupferstiche, Radierungen und Holzschnitte alter Meister." Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, June 4, 1957].
[4] Invoice from James A. Bergquist dated September 3, 1991 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 4, 1991.
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