Meeting of Jacob and Esau

This conflict between Jacob and Esau paralleled by the affection the parents had for their favored child: “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison, and Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28). Even since conception, their conflict was foreshadowed: “And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:22–23)

Francesco Hayez (1791–1882) was an Italian painter. He is considered one of the leading artists of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, and is renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories, and portraits. Many of his works reflect the desire to accompany a Neoclassic style to grand themes, either from biblical or classical literature. Hayez's subjects are often dressed in austere, black and white clothing, with little to no accoutrements.

This religious oil on canvas painting measures 208 x 300 cmwas painted in the Orientalism  style. It is housed in the Tosio Martinengo Gallery, in Brescia, Lombardy.

The Book of Genesis speaks of the relationship between Jacob and Esau, focusing on Esau’s loss of his birthright to Jacob and the conflict that had spawned between their descendant nations because of Jacob’s deception of their aged and blind father, Isaac, in order to receive Esau’s birthright/blessing from Isaac.