Jacob's Ruse and Blessing

14th century
Fresco
Pomposa Abbey, Codorigo, Italy

The story is from Genesis 27:1-40. The image does not follow it in a linear order. At left, Esau goes hunting with bow and arrow to get meat for a meal for his blind father, Isaac. At right, Jacob comes to his father and claims to be Esau with a dish he has prepared from the game he caught. Believing that this is Esau, Isaac gives him his blessing. In the middle, Esau has returned and is bringing his father another dish with game from his hunt. He will be distraught when he learns of Jacob's trick, which has left him without his father's blessing.

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Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.