Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 51

 Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

In the Bible, Genesis chapter 32 tells a story about Jacob.  He sent away his two wives, his servants and children.  (Note that having two wives was perfectly OK.)  Then he was alone, and he wrestled with a mysterious man all night long until daybreak.  Then the man spoke (King James version):

28. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

30. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Commentators debated who Jacob's opponent was – a man, or God, or what?  But the most widely accepted interpretation is that Jacob wrestled with an angel.

Above, La Lutte de Jacob avec l'Ange (Jacob's Struggle with the Angel) by French painter Paul Baudry, 1853.  Baudry painted Jacob nicely, but he got the angel wrong.  There are no female angels in the Bible.  None.  All angels are referred to as he or him, never she or her.  Besides, Jacob's opponent is specifically referred to as a man.

All other artists depicted the angel as male.  In the 19th and 20th century, several artists viewed this as a good subject for depicting muscular naked men – after all, they're wrestling.  Above, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1865, by Alexander Louis Leloir.  Jacob is naked, but mostly hidden.

In Jacob Wrestling the Angel, 1876, by Leon Bonnat, Jacob is wearing some kind of furry apron, but the angel is naked.

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel,1907, by Danish artist Oluf Hartmann shows a naked Jacob.

In the realm of sculpture, this is Jacob and the Angel, 1909-1911, by Hendrik Christian Andersen, who should not be confused with Danish fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen. Hendrik Andersen was a gay American sculptor who was the lover of author Henry James.

Another sculpture is Jacob and the Angel, 1940-41, by American-British artist Jacob Epstein.  Here, instead of wrestling, Jacob and the angel look like they're hugging.

Our last artwork is Jacob and the Angel by American artist Edward Knippers, 1990.  Here, both are nude, and the angel is depicted as quite a hunk.

I have to include one more reference to Jacob.  In Genesis chapter 28, Jacob has a dream about a ladder that goes up to Heaven with angels ascending and descending.  

Jacob's ladder has become a metaphor and a term for all kinds of things.  We end with a type of penis piercing called a Jacob's ladder.