Jacob and His Twelve Sons (1640-44), a 13-work series by the Spanish Old Master Francisco de Zurbarán, will be shown for the first time outside Europe at the Meadows Museum, Dallas, next year and the Frick Collection, New York, in 2018. The series tells the story of the biblical patriarch Jacob, who shared a prophecy with his sons on his deathbed that they would found the 12 tribes of Israel. All but one of the works, which are housed at Auckland Castle, north-east England, was bought at auction in 1756 by Bishop Richard Trevor as a statement of religious tolerance toward Jews. (Trevor was outbid on the painting of Benjamin, so he commissioned a copy; the original remains in another UK collection.) While in the US, the works will undergo X-ray and infrared testing at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, to gain insight into Zurbarán’s creative process. The paintings have rarely left the dining room Trevor built for them in Auckland Castle, but US museums jumped at the chance to show them while the castle undergoes renovation. The refurbishment, largely backed by the London-based investment manager Jonathan Ruffer, is due to be complete in May 2018.
