Landscape with Jacob Laying Rods before the Flock of Laban

In seventeenth-century Spain, small landscapes depicting a biblical subject were very popular among the middle class. Antolínez paints the story of Jacob, who after years of service under his master Laban, wishes to leave with his family to Canaan and God rewards him with his own flock. In the center of the painting, Jacob lays peeled rods next to his master's sheep while his wife Rachel tends to the flock on the left. Antolínez painted a series of small landscapes such as this one, pertaining to the lives of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and David, among other subjects.