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Original fileStamvaders Zebulon en Issachar
About This Work
The left panel shows Zebulun standing on a shore with an anchor and a large oar, referencing his tribe's maritime destiny near the sea. The right panel depicts Issachar as a rugged laborer leaning on a shovel next to a kneeling, burdened donkey, representing his tribe's dedication to agriculture and service. Both figures are presented in the Mannerist style with muscular physiques and detailed landscapes containing ships and farmhouses.
Representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel, these figures were central to Renaissance attempts to map biblical history onto natural philosophy, astrology, and Kabbalistic systems. The specific attributes shown here derive from the 'Blessings of Jacob' in Genesis 49, which Christian Hebraists and esotericists like Robert Fludd used to link the tribes to the zodiacal signs and the macrocosmic order.
Inscriptions(Latin)
ZEBULON Accola littoreas Zabulon factus ad undas: Ostia dum viso studijsq; naualibus insum, Et nauiu' uisa est in Statione mea Omnia consurgunt prosperiora mihi .5. ISSASCHAR Isachar onusto cur sim simulat[us] asello, Finibus exiguis, cote[n]tus ferre labores, Inq; manu signet quid ligo scire cupis Me iuuat et collo non recusare iugum .6.
Translation
ZEBULUN Zebulun, made a dweller by the shores: While I view the mouths of the rivers and engage in naval pursuits, And a ship is seen in my station, All things arise more prosperously for me. .5. ISSACHAR Do you desire to know why I am portrayed as Issachar with a laden donkey, Content with narrow borders to bear labors, And what the mattock in my hand signifies? It delights me not to refuse the yoke upon my neck. .6.
Connected Texts
Genesis 49
The iconographic attributes of the anchor/ship for Zebulun and the ass/burden for Issachar are direct visualizations of Jacob's deathbed prophecies.
Robert Fludd
Fludd's 'Utriusque Cosmi' and other works frequently correlate the twelve tribes of Israel depicted here with the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 222 mm x width 308 mm
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.