(Amsterdam 1599 – after 1665)
Rebecca and Eliezer,
signed and dated upper centre: Isaacz. 1641,
oil on canvas, 80.3 x 60.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France, 2015

The present canvas is a rare example of an easel painting dating from Isaac Isaacsz. late period, when he was one of the established history painters of 1640s Amsterdam, and described as a rival of Rembrandt, albeit one who worked in a brighter, more colourful style, with less reliance on dramatic chiaroscuro. This may be in part due to the more international clientele of Isaacsz., as many of his works were exported to Northern European courts where the exuberance of Rubens still so informed collecting tastes. The subject of Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well, was an old testament theme popularised by Rembrandt’s talented pupils, such as Ferdinand Bol, Isaac Iacobsz. van Hooren and Gerbrand van den Eeckhout who all painted treatments of the subject. In the present composition, although the scheme of figures may owe something to van Eeckhout, Isaacsz. has added dynamism by having Elizier pull both the jug and Rebecca towards him, along added a sense of instrumentality through addition of the ruins in the background.