Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2019.

Landscape with the Journey of Rebekah

Artist Pieter Mulier the Younger (Tempesta) (Dutch, 1637 - 1701)

CultureDutch

Dateca. 1687-1690

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 47 x 61 in. (119.4 x 154.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 53 x 67 in. (134.6 x 170.2 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.539

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 205

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. "In Tempesta's painting Rebekah-- riding camelback across the bridge in the middle distance, a parasol shielding her from the sun--journeys to Canaan with her dowry and servants. The caravan threads its way through an arcadian landscape of rolling hills and rippling stream, all overhung by a sunny, powder-blue sky."--Jefferson C. Harrison, CHRYSLER MUSEUM HANDBOOK, p. 52.

Label TextPieter Mulier the Younger, called Tempesta Dutch, active Italy, 1637–1701 Landscape with the Journey of Rebekah, ca. 1687–90 Oil on canvas The title refers to the biblical heroine Rebekah, but the real subject of Pieter Mulier’s painting is the peaceful landscape. The slanted light streaming in from the right illuminates Rebekah’s richly colored procession as it winds its way down the hill, across the stream, and into the clearing in the foreground. In the Bible, God identifies Rebekah as the perfect wife for the patriarch Isaac. The scene here demonstrates the perfection of all God’s creations. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.539 ProvenanceColonel Oswald Mosley Leigh, T.D., Belmont Hall, Cheshire, England, 1952; Colnaghi, London, England, 1953; David M. Koetser, New York, 1953. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., to Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971. Exhibition History"Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Seattle Art Museum; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Minneapolis Art Institute; St. Louis City Art Museum; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 2, 1956 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 42). "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1958. (Exhib. cat. no. 63). "Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 1963. (Exhib. cat. no. 21). "Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, Virginia, Dec. 2, 1967 - May 15, 1968. (Exhib. cat. no. 48). Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. No. 42. Bertina S. Manning. _Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition_. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958. No. 63. Robert L. Manning. _Italian Renaissance and Baroque Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Norfolk: Norfolk Museum of Arts and Science. 1967. No. 48. Marcel Roethlisberger-Bianco. _Cavalier Pietro Tempesta and his Time_. Haarlem, 1970, pp. 48, 111, no. 265. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, pp. 52-3; color plate p. 53. Jonathan Bober et. al., _A Superb Baroque: Art in Genoa 1600-1750_, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with Princeton University Press, 2020, 85, fig. 13.