Jacob And The Angel – Tomik 9.5, Troye Jacobs
This is a reimagining of the prophet Jacob and his encounter with an angel. Jacob is distraught and on a desert hike alone when he falls asleep by a river. His sleep is interrupted by the appearance of an ‘angel’ and he fights the angel all night. At daybreak, he asks the angel for a blessing. It is at this point that Jacob’s name is changed to Israel.
There are many artistic representations of this scene throughout the ages: the two figures are usually involved in some kind of embrace, certainly showing a monumental struggle, but often playing with the intimacy of two naked (or nearly naked) male bodies in an embrace. See Rembrandt, Gauguin, Chagall, etc. Some carvings show the angel on top of Jacob as if he were entering him from behind. The possible erotic interpretations are endless.
In our version, Jacob and the angel fight, but the line between fighting and erotic desire becomes blurred, as it is in many artistic representations of this scene.
