Jacob's Dream (c. 1720): Art, History and Details

Jacob's Dream (c. 1720) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Joseph Goupy (British, 1686–before.1770).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Joseph Goupy played a significant role in cultivating a taste for Italian art in 18th-century Britain. Here, Goupy copied an oil painting by Salvator Rosa now in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth. Copying from Old Masters was a venerated practice in the 18th century. In addition to being an essential aspect of artistic training, the circulation of great works of art served to educate connoisseurs and to shape public opinion. Goupy’s luminous gouaches were highly prized, fetching prices considerably higher than original portraits of the period.

Object facts

• Title: Jacob's Dream
• Date: c. 1720
• Creator attribution: Joseph Goupy (British, 1686–before.1770)
• Culture: England, 18th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: gouache
• Dimensions: Sheet: 28.5 x 42 cm (11 1/4 x 16 9/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - British
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1970.362

A detail from the museum

This drawing was formerly attributed to the Venetian landscape painter Marco Ricci (1676-1730), who worked periodically in England during the early 18th century.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Langdon, Helen. Salvator Rosa Paint and Performance. London: Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022. .
• Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1971." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (1972): 3-46.
• Pignatti, Terisio. Disegni antichi del Museo Correr di Venezia. Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1980.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.