Eliezer offering the earring and bracelets to Rebekah. 1861. Oil on canvas. 29 15/16 x 24 5/8 inches (76 x 63 cm). Private collection. Image courtesy of Sotheby's, London.
This work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, no. 555, accompanied by these lines from the Bible in the catalogue; "The man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold." Genesis XXIV, 22. The story of Eliezer and Rebekah indeed comes from Genesis, Chapter 24. Abraham has sent his eldest servant Eliezer to Nahor in Mesopotamia to choose a wife from Abraham's family for his son Isaac:
And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. And he said O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master. And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. [v. 11-15]
The beautiful young maiden Rebekah, Isaac's cousin, comes to the well and gives water to both Eliezer and his camels. She, in turn, is given a golden earring and two gold bracelets. Rebekah's father agrees to the marriage when he recognizes that it has been ordained by God.
Thomas's painting shows a half-length portrait of a smiling Eliezer holding a gold earring in his right hand and the two gold bracelets in his left. Surprisingly no image of Rebekah is included. In the past critics had frequently criticised Thomas's ability as a colourist but there can be no cause for complaint in this case where Eliezer's costume has been handled magnificently. When it was shown at the Royal Academy it failed to catch the interest of the critics, however, and was not extensively reviewed. The Builder merely stated: Eliezer offering the Ear-ring and Bracelets to Rebekah,' W. C. Thomas (555), is a very clever work" (368).
The story of Eliezer and Rebekeh was one handled frequently by artists within the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle in the 1860s, but all these representations included the figures of both individuals. William Holman Hunt designed a wood engraving of Eliezer and Rebekah at the Well for the Dalziel Bible Gallery in 1863. Frederic Leighton also designed a wood engraving of Eliezer and Rebekeh for this same publication but chose an earlier episode in the story where Eliezer watches Rebekah descending some steps to go to the well outside the gates of the city. An early pen-and-ink drawing by William Blake Richmond of Eliezer and Rebekah at the Well, of c.1860-62, is in a private Canadian collection. Both Hunt's print and Richmond's drawing show Eliezer fastening the earring to Rebekah's ear. Another drawing by Richmond of Rebecca at the Well, dated 1861, is in the collection of Princeton University Art Museum (object no. 2003-90).
Links to Related Material
- Abraham’s Servant and Rebekah by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (engraving, 1851)
- Rebekah at the Well by W. Hilton (1851)
- The Meeting of Isaac and Rebekah by A. Strähuber (1851)
Bibliography
"The Exhibition of the Royal Academy." The Builder XX (24 May 1862): 367-68.
Lanigan, Dennis T. Beauty's Awakening. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2015, fig.54.2: 136.
Victorian Pictures. London: Sotheby's (3 June 1998): lot 158: 84.
Created 1 February 2024