Départ de Jacob (The Departure of Jacob) 1741 - 1800

Curator: This drawing, now an etching or print, is titled *The Departure of Jacob*. It dates to somewhere between 1741 and 1800. It can now be seen here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, made by Elisabeth Cousinet Lempereur. Editor: The overall tonal quality is light, almost ethereal. I find it somewhat unsettling, actually. All that wispy grey line work creates a kind of dreamy precarity, if that makes sense? Curator: Well, "precarity" fits. Consider Jacob's story, how this imagery may have affected the perception of biblical history. Jacob is leaving his father-in-law, Laban, and the land he was promised to inherit. This departure resonates with the anxieties surrounding familial duty versus personal ambition. Editor: Ah, the composition mirrors that feeling. The receding landscape suggests this uncertainty of Jacob's decision, emphasizing the unknown future ahead. But still, it is romantic, like some pastoral scene, idealized. I like the textures created through hatching and cross-hatching! Curator: True! Romanticism certainly tinges the visual language here, particularly in the depiction of nature, the rolling clouds seem imbued with an almost spiritual presence, the figures arranged with soft lighting that evokes feeling. Note, also, the women and children grouped to the left side, their expressions suggest grief or worry. This departure from familiar shores isn’t without a melancholy acknowledgement. Editor: Do you find those figures along the treeline too self-consciously neoclassical, a stagey addition? While the tonal gradations give it a certain subtlety, they also remind me of other narrative friezes. Still, though, it functions in a structural role, does it not? This creates an implied tension of an ending from something known, now dissolving back into the Earth. Curator: Yes! An "ending," in the sense that he's being set free! Elisabeth Lempereur Cousinet creates an interesting psychological study by alluding to this narrative’s broader implications—challenging established societal and artistic practices through visual metaphor. It isn't a literal ending, just a step into the next great segment of life. Editor: Well put. It certainly offers a lot to unpack for such a seemingly simple composition. Curator: Indeed. Lempereur Cousinet has definitely created a resonating emotional piece by working on a known historical narrative, layering so many cultural questions upon her romantic figuration.