Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)
About this artwork
This painting, which dates from 1888 and was made in Pont-Aven, Brittany, is one of Gauguin's most famous works. The Breton women, dressed in distinctive regional costume, have just listened to a sermon based on a passage from the Bible. Genesis (32:22-32) relates the story of Jacob, who, after fording the river Jabbok with his family, spent a whole night wrestling with a mysterious angel. In a letter the artist wrote to Van Gogh he said 'For me the landscape and the fight only exist in the imagination of the people praying after the sermon.'
Audio commentary
This commentary is part of the National audio tour. Listen to the whole tour in Smartify.
Updated before 2020
see media-
artist:Paul Gauguin (1848 - 1903) French
-
title:Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)
-
date created:1888
-
materials:Oil on canvas
-
measurements:72.20 x 91.00 cm; Framed: 96.00 x 116.70 x 8.30 cm / 21.00 kg
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased 1925
-
accession number:NG 1643
-
gallery:
-
subject:
-
glossary:
-
artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin's highly original paintings profoundly influenced modern art of the twentieth century. Now described as a 'Post-Impressionist', he was inspired to paint by Pissarro, but developed a symbolic style, using colour to express meaning. Traditions in western art and cultures outside Europe...