Pennnacchi, Pier Maria (attrib.)
Jacob the Patriarch

Late 15th / early 16th century
Painted panel
Ceiling, Santa Maria dei Miracoli
Venice, Italy

This is one of several dozen painted panels in the church's coffered ceiling. Although remembered mainly as a patriarch, Jacob is here labeled as a prophet (abbreviated ꝒṪA on the banderole). A number of the patriarchs pictured in the ceiling are also labeled as prophets, but this particular labeling could be in recognition of his prophecy, "The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations" (Genesis 49:10). Christians took this verse to refer to Jesus as the Messiah.

According to the church's guide book, "The attribution of the painting cycle to Pier Maria Pennacchi (c. 1464-1515) seems to have been a generic label applied long after the diverse figures were painted."

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