JACOB AND THE ANGEL NOTES

MATERIALS Carved from single block (monolith) of English alabaster Colour can range from milky white to pink brown The unpainted piece gives the sculpture a raw, natural quality perhaps adding to the purity of the angel and his blessing upon jacob The natural colour of alabaster goes from dark at the bottom to light at the top, as if the angel is lifting Jacob from the ground (darkness) into light (heaven)TECHNIQUES Smooth shortened forms of body, primitivist, low tensile strength of alabaster Sculpture looks carved from a big block as it is very opaque and locked in Hole between the legs close to the base to give the piece more openness without having to extend the limbs Smooth curves of bodies, try to employ some realistic human figure detail to otherwise unrealistic shortened bodies Weighs over two and a half tonnes, so the transition of colour from dark to light almost lifts the figure up to remove the weight and make it appear lighter Natural fault line running from Jacobs left wrist to little finger Depicts scene from book of Genesis in Old Testament where Jacob wrestled with the angel/messenger from God and is blessed for not abandoning the struggle.