Jacob zich onderhoudende met Rachel en Lea 1777

Wybrand Hendriks rendered "Jacob zich onderhoudende met Rachel en Lea" in pen, ink, and watercolor. The context of Hendriks’s work is shaped by the Dutch Enlightenment, which saw a burgeoning interest in civic virtues and moralizing narratives. Here, he depicts a biblical scene infused with 18th-century sensibilities. Jacob is surrounded by Rachel and Lea, his wives, within a pastoral landscape that evokes a sense of tranquility and order. The emphasis on family and the serene setting subtly underscores the virtues of domesticity and harmonious relationships, ideals that were very much a part of the cultural values of the time. The image delicately balances religious narrative with secular values, reflecting an era grappling with questions of faith, reason, and the individual's place within society. It presents a vision of the past that speaks to the present, mirroring the personal lives and societal expectations of Hendriks’s contemporaries.