Artwork Page for Jacob's Dream

Details / Information for Jacob's Dream

Jacob's Dream

c. 1720

Joseph Goupy

(British, 1686–before.1770)
Culture
England, 18th century
Medium
gouache
Support
Brown kidskin
Measurements
Sheet: 28.5 x 42 cm (11 1/4 x 16 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1970.362
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This drawing was formerly attributed to the Venetian landscape painter Marco Ricci (1676-1730), who worked periodically in England during the early 18th century.

Description

Joseph Goupy played a significant role in cultivating a taste for Italian art in 18th-century Britain. Here, Goupy copied an oil painting by Salvator Rosa now in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth. Copying from Old Masters was a venerated practice in the 18th century. In addition to being an essential aspect of artistic training, the circulation of great works of art served to educate connoisseurs and to shape public opinion. Goupy’s luminous gouaches were highly prized, fetching prices considerably higher than original portraits of the period.
A horizontally oriented gouache drawing depicts Jacob, a man with light skin in a red garment, sleeping at left. Beside him, a wooden ladder rises into swirling blue and yellow clouds where seven winged figures ascend and descend. Warm light radiates from the center, highlighting the angels. At right, a rocky cliff with leaning trees towers over the scene, while deep shadows stretch across the foreground of this rugged landscape.

Jacob's Dream

c. 1720

Joseph Goupy

(British, 1686–before.1770)
England, 18th century

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