The Mill, or Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca
Wikimedia Commons
The story
“The Mill, or Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca” was painted in 1648. It is the pair of Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba – the two paintings were made for the same patron. Claude Lorrain shows here an ideal landscape in afternoon light.
In “The Mill, or Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca” people in the foreground dance and celebrate a wedding under tall trees. Behind them stretches a quiet lake, and on the shore stands a mill. In the distance blue mountains fade away. The air is warm and clear.
The subject comes from the Bible – the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca. But the figures are so small that many people do not understand what exactly is happening. That is why Claude Lorrain wrote the name of the subject right on the painting. And people simply call it “The Mill”.
Turner liked this painting so much that in his will he wanted a painting of his to hang beside it. Claude and Turner painted light with the same love, although almost two hundred years separate them.
Today “The Mill, or Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca” is in the National Gallery in London. Claude Lorrain turned a wedding into a celebration of all nature.
Interesting facts
The canvas measures 149.2 × 196.9 cm, oil.
Claude wrote the name of the subject right on the painting.
The painting is the pair of “Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba”.
