"Laban seeking his idols" 17th century

Italian school of the seventeenth century, follower of Pierre de Cortone, Laban looking for his idols, oil on canvas.

Our oil on canvas is a non-autographed reproduction of a painting by Pierre de Cortone (1596-1669), Laban searching for his idols, from the famous collection of the Duke of Orleans who presented it at the Royal Palace and whose description can be found engraved in reverse and written in several publications dating from the eighteenth century (See Gallery of the Royal Palace engraved from the tables of the different schools that comprise it: with a summary of the life of painters & a historical description of each painting, Paris, Jacques Couché, Volume I, plate 37). According to the historian Giuliano Briganti, the original version would be the one kept at the City Art Gallery in Bristol. Another slightly smaller version of an anonymous author is kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.

The subject of the painting is taken from the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament. Laban searches in the affairs of his daughter Rachel idols she stole after a clandestine departure. The latter sits to the right of the composition. In the center, Laban searches in a chest while his son-in-law Jacob supports the lid. At a short distance, men go down the bundles tied to the back of a camel.

Peter of Cortona was at the peak of his glory when he painted Laban seeking his idols, considered the equal of his Roman contemporaries: Nicolas Poussin and Andrea Sacchi. He was surrounded by talented students who are gradually credited with some of his paintings.

Dimensions without frame: Length: 106cm Width: 144cm
Dimensions with frame: Length: 126cm Width: 168 cm