Italian school; 18th century. "Rebecca and Eliezer at the well". Oil on canvas. Relined.

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Old Masters, Day 1

By Setdart Auction House

Nov 24, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-11-24 09:00:00 2021-11-24 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Old Masters, Day 1 https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-day-1-7873
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• Lot Description
  Italian school; 18th century. "Rebecca and Eliezer at the well". Oil on canvas. Relined. Presents repainting and restorations. Measurements: 120 x 145 cm; 139 x 166 cm (frame). The painting narrates an episode from the Genesis (24: 18-20), relative to the election of a wife for Isaac. As his days were drawing to an end, Abraham began to think about finding a wife for his son. He did not want him to marry a woman from Canaan, the land where they lived, but from Ur, where he was born. So Abraham called one of his servants, Eliezer, and told him that God would help him find a wife for Isaac from among the relatives who lived in his homeland of Mesopotamia. The servant set out, and when he reached the gates of the city where Nahor, Abraham's brother, lived, he let his camels rest near a well. There he prayed to God: "Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, meet me today, and show yourself kind to my master Abraham. I will stand by the well of water while the women of the city come to fetch water; the young woman to whom I say, I pray you, tip your pitcher, that I may drink, and she says to me, 'You drink, and I will give your camels drink also,' be she whom you intend for your servant Isaac." Before he finishes speaking, Rebekah, the young virgin granddaughter of Nahor, appears and goes to fill her pitcher with water. Eliezer asks her for some water from her pitcher, and she also offers to water his camels. The servant then offers her a ring and two gold bracelets, and asks her who she is and if she can stay overnight in her father's house, to which she agrees. Eliezer narrates her whole story point by point, and the family agrees to let Rebecca go to Abraham's house and marry Isaac. Formally, this work is dominated by the influence of the Roman-Bolognese classicism of the Carracci and their followers, one of the two great currents of the Italian Baroque, together with Caravaggio's naturalism. Thus, the figures are monumental, with idealized faces and serene and balanced gestures, in an idealized representation based on classical canons. Also the rhetoric of the gestures, theatrical and eloquent, clearly baroque, is typical of the Italian classicism of the XVII century, inherited in the XVIII century. It is also worth mentioning the importance of the chromatic aspect, very well thought out, toned and balanced, centered on basic ranges around red, ochre and blue. Also the way of composing the scene, with a circular rhythm, typical of this school of baroque classicism.
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