Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

A night-long struggle

In the Book of Genesis, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious being until dawn. When the stranger cannot overcome him, he touches Jacob’s hip and blesses him, giving him the new name Israel. The episode has been read as a struggle with God himself.

The French painter Alexandre-Louis Leloir painted the scene in 1865, when he was only twenty-two. The painting is in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay.

Two bodies locked together

Jacob, dark-haired and muscular, pushes forward with his head down, wrapping his arms around the angel’s waist. The angel twists away, calm and pale. Their bodies form one strong diagonal across the canvas.

A great white wing

At the right, the angel’s enormous wing sweeps down to the ground, white and grey against the dark night. It makes clear that Jacob’s opponent is not human.

A red cloak and bare feet

Behind Jacob, a red cloak flies out, adding colour and movement to the dark scene.

At the bottom, their bare feet grip the rocky ground, showing the strain of the fight.

Alexandre-Louis Leloir

Alexandre-Louis Leloir (1843 to 1884) was born into a family of Parisian artists. His father was a painter and his mother a watercolourist. He trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and competed for the Prix de Rome. Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, shown at the Salon of 1865 when he was only twenty-two, was a great success and was bought by the state.

Leloir later became known for small, detailed historical genre scenes and watercolours. He died young, at forty-one.

What does the struggle mean?

The story of Jacob wrestling has been interpreted in many ways. Jewish and Christian commentators saw it as a struggle with God, a test of faith, or a moment of spiritual transformation. Jacob receives a new name, Israel, often explained as “one who struggles with God.” Artists from Rembrandt to Delacroix and Gauguin found in it an image of inner conflict and perseverance.

A comparison with Delacroix

A few years before Leloir, Eugène Delacroix painted the same subject on the wall of a chapel in the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, completed in 1861. Delacroix set the struggle beneath huge trees, with bold colour and energy. Leloir’s version is more sculptural and focused, with the two bodies locked together against a plain background. Both reflect the renewed interest in religious painting in nineteenth-century France.

Academic skill

The painting shows the training of the French academy: precise drawing, careful anatomy, smooth finish and a dramatic pose. Jacob’s muscular body strains against the angel’s calm strength. The great wing and flowing drapery add movement. It is a showpiece of the skills valued at the Salon.

Where to see it

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel belongs to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more masterpieces, explore our top 100 most famous paintings.

Questions about Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

What story does it show?

Genesis 32: Jacob wrestles through the night with a divine being and receives the name Israel.

Who painted it?

Alexandre-Louis Leloir (1843 to 1884), in 1865.

Where is it?

In the collection of the Musée d’Orsay.

How large is it?

About 177 × 237 centimetres, oil on canvas.

How old was Leloir when he painted it?

About twenty-two; it was shown at the Salon of 1865.

Who else painted this subject?

Rembrandt, Delacroix and Gauguin, among many others.

Sources and image credit

• Musée d’Orsay: Leloir, Jacob
• Wikimedia Commons: Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

Public-domain reproduction of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (1865), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.