(Memmingen 1640–1704 Augsburg)
Laban seeking his Idols,
signed lower centre: JHeiss,
oil on canvas, 95 x 104.5 cm, framed

We are grateful to Peter Königfeld for endorsing the attribution.

The subject for this well preserved and recently rediscovered painting is taken from the story of Jacob in the Book of Genesis (31: 30–35). Jacob, the son of Isaac and the twin brother of Esau, fled from his brother’s wrath, taking refuge with his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia. Laban had two daughters, the graceful and beautiful Rachel and the less appealing Leah. Jacob undertook to serve Laban as a herdsman for seven years in return for Rachel whom he wished to marry. At the wedding feast Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his elder daughter Leah, and then demanded another seven years labour from Jacob before he should obtain Rachel. By the end Jacob set off secretly to return to Canaan with both wives and his children and possessions. In parting, Rachel stole her father’s teraphim, the small sacred figurines which were his ‘household gods’. When he discovered the theft, Laban set off in pursuit, overtook the party and searched their tents and belongings. Rachel promptly hid the teraphim in a camel’s saddle and sat on it, saying to her father, ‘do not take it amiss, sir, that I cannot rise in your presence, the common lot of women is upon me’. Jacob and Laban had a reconciliation before they parted. Prominently placed in the centre of the composition, Rachel points to an opened chest that is being searched by Laban, whilst Jacob, wearing green, appears to appease Laban’s entourage.

Heiss is rightfully considered one of the most important German seventeenth-century artists, and together with Johann Heinrich Schönfeld (1609–1684) and Joseph Werner (1637–1710) established the influential Augsburg Neoclassical Baroque school of painting. Johann Heiss began his career in the service of Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (1614–1674). He established himself at Augsburg, an international centre of the art market in the 17th century, where his passion for erudite subjects, and the realistic rendering of every detail in his works, point to his ties with the city’s academy. His style is reminiscent of Nicolas Poussin (see G. Adriani, Deutsche Malerei im 17. Jahrhundert, Cologne 1977, p. 74, pl. 61), which could indicate an, albeit undocumented, Italian, and most probably Roman, sojourn. His allegories, mythological scenes and historical paintings were highly valued by his contemporaries.

The present painting was not known to Peter Königfeld when publishing his catalogue raisonée in 2001, so the recent rediscovery of this signed work is a significant addition to the artist’s oeuvre. Another, smaller and upright version of the present composition was sold for € 36,000 in these rooms (see sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 5 October 2005, lot 263; P. Königfeld, Der Maler Johann Heiss, Memmingen/Augsburg 1640–1704, Weißenhorn 2001, p. 314, cat. no. D31).