TAPESTRY, PROBABLY FROM A SERIES DEPICTING THE LIFE OF JACOB

Brussels or Enghien, ca. 1550/75.
This tapestry features an old bearded man leaning on a stick and being welcomed by a younger man. He is followed by a servant with a long staff, looking back at a seated woman with a child. Biblical depiction, probably of the Reconciliation between Jacob and his son Joseph, King of Egypt (Genesis 47: 5-6). Floral border decorated with fruit.
294 × 463 cm.

Few losses and repairs.

This scene could be part of an unknown series of tapestries with Biblical depictions, in which patriarchs like Abraham and Jacob are often depicted as bearded old men. For comparison, cf. a tapestry on the Life of Abraham at Hampton Court (ca. 1545) and a tapestry on the Life of Jacob in Brussels (ca. 1535).
The border with the wide floral decoration is found on tapestries from the period between 1540 and 1560, and the motif can be found in both Brussels and Enghien.