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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileafter Hendrick Goltzius
Two women are shown in a close embrace, with the figure on the right holding a mandrake root. In the background, Jacob tends a flock of sheep near a well while an angel descends from the clouds on a ray of light. The work is characterized by the dynamic, swelling line work and muscular anatomy typical of late sixteenth-century Dutch engraving.
In the Renaissance and Neoplatonic traditions, Rachel and Leah were frequently interpreted as allegories for the 'Contemplative Life' and the 'Active Life,' respectively. The mandrake root they hold refers to the biblical narrative of fertility but also carries significant weight in early modern botanical and magical lore.
HG. Inuentor. Prodijt ex nobis Sacra, et diuina propago, Quæ totam largo compleuit semine terram. C. Schonaus.
Translation
HG. Inventor. There came forth from us a sacred and divine offspring, Which filled the whole earth with abundant seed. C. Schonaus.
Philo of Alexandria
Philo established the influential allegorical interpretation of Rachel and Leah as representing different stages of the soul's pursuit of wisdom and virtue.
Dante Alighieri
In Canto XXVII of the Purgatorio, Dante uses Rachel and Leah to personify the contemplative and active modes of existence.
Object
Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem
Engraving
religious
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12102/6369c7aa-6d89-462e-c748-b425e50bbfb6
Public domain
2438 × 3330 px
166f4a07f2448ab9628191a64f57f45abcded067
April 18, 2019
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.