Gustave MoreauFrankreich, 1826–1898Jacob and the Angel
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Wo ist „Jacob and the Angel“ heute? Harvard Art Museums, Gallery 2100, floor 2, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, Cambridge. Ja, derzeit ausgestellt. Geprüft 29. September 2026.
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Saal2100, floor 2, European and American Art, 17th–19th century
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This nocturnal scene derives from the Book of Genesis, in which Jacob, on his journey to Canaan, wrestles with an angel. Condemning Delacroix’s famous 1861 painting of the biblical passage, Moreau wrote that his illustration of the scene more accurately conveyed the futility of Jacob’s battle, as he fights an invisible and infinitely more powerful foe.
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Moreau’s monumental canvases have been interpreted as allegories of contemporary politics, and the struggle between human and moral strength in this painting could allude to Moreau’s strident reaction to the brutal conflicts of 1870–71. These included the Franco-Prussian War, in which he fought as a soldier. When this painting was presented at the Exposition universelle of 1878, it functioned on an additional allegorical level. It was part of a trio of works — including The Infant Moses, in the adjacent gallery, and David — that symbolized the three ages of man.
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- 1943.266
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Im Leben von Gustave Moreau
Das ganze Leben1859–1888 · Wirkungsort
Paris
1870–1875
Years without exhibiting: renewing his art
Disturbed by criticism that his work had become formulaic, Moreau stopped exhibiting for a few years and concentrated on renewing his art.
18. September 1875 · Auszeichnung
Knight of the Legion of Honour
1876
Return to the Salon: “Salome”
After the break Moreau returned to the Salon. That year he completed “Salome Dancing before Herod”, which announced the more painterly style that would characterize his later works.
1878
“Phaeton” at the World’s Fair stuns Redon
At the 1878 World’s Fair Moreau’s watercolour “Phaeton” so struck Odilon Redon that he wrote of its power to renew old art. Redon, like many critics of the time, saw Moreau’s chief merit in giving traditional painting a new direction, building a bridge between past and future.
1880
His last exhibition: “Helen” and “Galatea”
In 1880 Moreau took part in an exhibition for the last time, showing “Helen at the Walls of Troy”, in which the woman appears as a depraved creature guilty of war and the death of men, and “Galatea”, whose heroine is an object of desire on which the huge eye of the cyclops in love is vainly fixed.
