1589
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Plate 5: Zabulun is a 1589 by Jacob de Gheyn II, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man in a fancy hat holds an anchor and a fishing line, standing in front of a harbor. Ships and waves fill the background. This is Zabulun, one of the twelve sons of Jacob from the Bible. Each son got a symbol—Zabulun’s is the sea, since his tribe lived near the water. The artist made this as part of a series showing all twelve brothers, each with their own props and clothes. If you like old prints like this, check out more works from The Cleveland Museum of Art.
n this print, the biblical figure Zabulun is shown holding an anchor and fishing line before a harbor, denoting his tribe’s domicile near the sea. This is one of a series of prints depicting the twelve sons of Jacob, each with an attribute and costume that denotes his character. According to the Old Testament, Jacob blessed each of his twelve sons, prophesizing the destiny of their tribe, and assigning them a parcel of land in Canaan. The print series was made in the Netherlands in the late 16th century, a time of political struggle when Old Testament heroes were popular exemplars of…
References to seafaring including a fishing line, anchor, and navigational device, suggest that this Old Testament figure prospers from the merchant trades.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jacob de Gheyn II was a Dutch painter and engraver, whose work shows the transition from Northern Mannerism to Dutch realism over the course of his career.
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