Description
Isaac Blessing Jacob belongs to the small but decisive group of frescoes known as the Stories of Isaac, painted in the upper register of the nave of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. The scene illustrates the episode from Genesis in which Jacob, aided by his mother Rebecca, impersonates his brother Esau before the aged and blind Isaac in order to receive the blessing intended for the firstborn son.
The chosen moment concentrates the narrative tension in Isaac's gesture as he reaches toward Jacob, who approaches the bed with the food prepared for his father. Rebecca stands behind them, watching the deception she has helped to organize. The painting's most striking innovation lies in its construction of space. Decorative motifs and architectural details, including Cosmatesque-inspired ornament, connect the fresco with the visual culture of Rome and have played an important role in debates concerning its authorship.
