© Estate of Jacob Epstein/Tate, London 2006
Jacob and the Angel
Artist: Sir Jacob Epstein (1880 - 1959)
Location: Tate
Date: 1940 - 1941
Materials: alabaster
Dimensions: 214 x 110 x 92cm
Grant:
Amount Paid: £25,000 (Total: £500,000)
Vendor: Granada Foundation.
Review number: 4326 (1996)
Provenance:
Mr W. Cartmell; S. Bernstein; Granada plc.
Description:
This monumental work depicts the well-known theme from the Book of Genesis. Jacob is wrestling with a stranger in a struggle that will last throughout the night. In the morning, the assailant reveals himself to be an angel and blesses Jacob for not abandoning the struggle. Though apparently locked in combat, the figures here seem to embrace and kiss, adding a charged sexual undertone to the sculpture. The work was carved from a single block of coloured alabaster. This work was carved in the middle of the Second World War and is a deeply personal work on the part of the artist who shared its hero's name.
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