C. 1642. A single candle illuminates a bargain that will alter the course of a lineage. Matthias Stom draws the viewer into the heart of a biblical family drama, caught between ravenous hunger and silent calculation.
A Drama by Candlelight
Consider this striking nocturnal scene. A solitary candle carves three faces out of the darkness. On the left, Jacob, his torso half-bare beneath a golden drape. His intense gaze is fixed on his brother, to whom he has just handed the bowl of lentils. On the right, Esau emerges from the night, clad in vivid red, a hare slung over his shoulder, a hunting dog at his feet. Between them, Rebecca watches. Her hand pressed to her chest betrays a contained emotion. The blue faience bowl, placed at the exact centre of the composition, concentrates all the tension. Stom models the flesh with a radical chiaroscuro. Shadows swallow the contours. Light caresses the fabrics.
The Legacy of Caravaggio on Flemish Soil
This painting illustrates a rarely depicted episode from the Book of Genesis. Esau, exhausted from the hunt, surrenders his birthright for a mere dish of lentils. Matthias Stom belongs to the Caravaggist movement that took root in the Netherlands. For a long time, this oil on canvas was attributed to Gerrit van Honthorst, Stom’s probable master. Nocturnal scenes lit by a single light source are the artist’s hallmark. This device dramatises the moment and heightens the realism of the expressions.
Matthias Stom
A Dutch painter active in Italy during the first half of the seventeenth century, Matthias Stom (c. 1589–after 1650) is an enigmatic figure of Caravaggism. His work blends Flemish rigour with Italian theatricality.
Think about it
💭 Before reading the label, would you have guessed who the hero of this scene is? Stom seems to reverse the roles.
About This Work
- Esau Selling His Birthright
- Matthias Stom
- 1642–1645
- Oil on canvas
- 136.5 × 172.5 cm
- Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
- https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/868621/esau-verkauft-sein-erstgeburtsrecht
