A young woman in a light dress walks past the well with her eyes lowered.
Bible in art · Genesis
Jacob Keeps Laban's Flock
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
A simple, calm composition: one standing figure, one well, a flock and a large sky. The engravers Pannemaker and Doms signed the block at the bottom right; Doré’s name is at the left.
Rachel walks past the well with a tall jar on her shoulder, her eyes lowered. Behind her, on a rock among the sheep, Jacob sits with his shepherd’s crook and watches her. The clouds are lit from behind, and the light falls full on Rachel’s pale dress.
From the text
- Jacob said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel” (Genesis 29:18)
- The years “seemed but a few days because of his love for her” (Genesis 29:20)
- Rachel herself was a shepherdess who came to the well with the flock (Genesis 29:9)
The artist’s own
- Rachel with a water jar rather than with her father’s sheep
- A single quiet moment chosen to stand for seven years of work
Details
Rachel
The jar
A tall two-handled jar on her shoulder.
Jacob
The shepherd sits on a rock among the sheep and watches her.
The well
A round stone well with its rope.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 22 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.