Artwork
Jacob's Dream
Jacob's Dream is an oil painting by the Spanish Baroque Tenebrist artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. It dates from 1660 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the ladder and the figure of Jacob, with angels populating the scene, visually conveying the dream-vision described in scripture.
The painting depicts the biblical episode known as Jacob's Ladder, drawn from the Book of Genesis. According to the narrative, the patriarch Jacob dreams of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, along which angels ascend and descend, signifying divine communication and the promise of blessing to his descendants.
The composition centers on the ladder and the figure of Jacob, with angels populating the scene, visually conveying the dream-vision described in scripture. The motif of the ladder functions as a symbol of the connection between the human and the divine, a recurring subject in Counter-Reformation religious imagery intended to inspire devotion and contemplation of God's covenant.
Murillo's treatment of the theme reflects the Spanish Baroque tradition of dramatizing biblical narratives through luminous figures and dynamic movement, presenting the vision as both a personal encounter and a universal emblem of faith.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the work measures 246 × 360 cm and belongs to the painterly tradition of mid-seventeenth-century Seville. Handling is fluid, with softly blended passages for cloud and flesh and more tactile impasto in the angel’s drapery and Jacob’s garments. The composition arranges the ladder diagonally across the upper half, compressing earthly space while celestial forms hover in luminous, high-key tones.
Stylistic traits include warm chiaroscuro, a silvery palette, and a pronounced tenebrism that isolates the protagonists against a luminous sky, aligning with Murillo’s mature devotional idiom.
History & Provenance
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo created the oil-on-canvas painting Jacob's Dream in 1660 in Spain. The work, which depicts Jacob, a ladder, and angels, measures 246 cm in height and 360 cm in width. It is currently held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
The sources do not provide specific details regarding the original commission, the initial owner, or the subsequent chain of ownership leading to its current location.
The painting is held in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its inventory number is 736.
It was included in the Hermitage’s permanent display of European Old Masters by 1988, when the museum published a catalogue noting its presence in Gallery 242. The work has not been recorded in major international traveling exhibitions since its initial listing in Soviet-era catalogues, and no recent exhibition history beyond the museum’s permanent hang is documented.
Overview
Created in 1660, this oil painting by Spanish Baroque artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo portrays the biblical episode in which Jacob dreams of a ladder extending from earth to heaven. The composition centers on a sleeping figure on the ground while angels ascend and descend the illuminated rung, set against a darkened landscape of trees and foliage.
Artist & collection
Artist
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ( mure-IL-oh, m(y)uu-REE-oh, Spanish:; late December 1617, baptised 1 January 1618 – 3 April 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter.
Dream of Saint Joseph
Christ on the Mount of Olives
Conversion of Saint Paul
Boreas Abducting Oreithyia, Daughter of Erechteus
The Annunciation to the Shepherds
The Angel Raphael Takes Leave of Old Tobit and his Son Tobias
Resurrection of Christ
Resurrection of Christ
The Assumption of the Virgin
Saint Jame's Vision of the Virgin of the Pillar