Jacob's Ladder, by William Blake

CHAPTER 28

• Isaac forbids Jacob from marrying a Canaanite woman — He blesses Jacob and his descendants with the blessings of Abraham — Esau marries one of Ishmael's daughters — Jacob has a vision of a ladder that reaches the heavens — The Lord promises that his descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth — The Lord also promises Jacob that he and his descendants will be blessed by all the families of the earth — Jacob makes a covenant to pay tithes.

Upon observing this work, also known as The Dream of Jacob, it seems that we ourselves will be blessed with a divine journey.

The sublimity of the scene, with its smooth transition of colors, provokes a spiritual absorption that leaves us awestruck.

The dreamlike quality of this scene belongs not only to the symbolist style of Blake, but also to the dream that Jacob is having, lying on a sweet head in an unknown place after a long day of travel.

He contemplates a marvelous procession of angelic women who, with elegance, ascend and descend a spiral staircase leading to the heavens.

The expression and posture of Jacob assure us of the young man's delight in the face of such a panorama of feminine beauty.

In the biblical chapter, it is narrated the appearance of God, who explains to Jacob his legitimacy in the land where he is resting.

When he awoke, he founded the sacred city of Bethel.

These events are not depicted in the painting, although it is clear that something glorious is about to happen at the top of the ladder:

But the story holds a bizarre detail: the dazzling sun that bursts forth there, despite the dark and starry sky in the background of the image.

The divine atmosphere is reinforced by various formal factors that provide a dynamic of ascension, such as the triangular composition that forms the staircase, framed by the inclination of the golden rays of the sun.

 

William Blake was a British artist and writer, considered a seminal figure of the Romantic Era.

His writings influenced numerous artists over time.

He was born in London on November 28, 1757.

He began writing at a young age and claimed to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels, at the age of ten.

He studied engraving and came to love Gothic Art, which he incorporated into his own unique works.

A misunderstood poet, artist, and visionary for much of his life, Blake found admirers at the end of his life and has been very influential since his death in 1827.