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The Mocking of Job Gioacchino Assereto

Artist

Gioacchino Assereto Genoa, 1600 – Genoa, 1650

Culture Italian
Date ca. 1645–1650
Object type painting
Medium, technique oil on canvas
Dimensions

121.5 × 148.5 cm

Inventory number 783
Collection Old Master Paintings
On view Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1600–1700 and British Painting 1600–1800, Gallery V

The Old Testament story of Job foreshadows the Passion of Christ, in particular the mocking scene. When God and Satan argued over the sincerity of Job’s faith, the man was subjected to a severe test, to prove whether his piety was true, or merely derived from his wealth and good fortune (Job 1: 13–22). In the painting we see Job seated on straw, tormented by his cruel fate, but unshaken in his belief. He is half naked, with only his loins covered in a rough, heavily creased blanket. He lifts his eyes towards heaven, praying for God’s mercy, while his wife rudely berates him. On the left, as a nightmarish vision, two demons emerge from the darkness of hell. The everyday atmosphere of the scene and the rawness in the style prove that Caravaggesque naturalism had reached Genoa by the time this work was painted.

References

Pigler, Andor, Katalog der Galerie Alter Meister, 1-2. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1967, p. 35.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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