How have painters and novelists shown Isaac's blessing, and what do they change?

Research question: How have painters and novelists shown the moment Isaac gives the blessing to Jacob, and which details do they usually change or emphasize?

The records describe two depictions of the scene: Giotto's painting, dated c.1290, is a fresco-era work in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi and part of a series of Old Testament scenes ⁵⁶. Jan Sanders van Hemessen, a Netherlandish master active in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, showed the scene with monumental figures and used sfumato to model the bodies ¹². The one changed detail the records identify is Rebecca's substitution of her son Jacob for his brother ⁴. The records do not say how novelists have treated the scene, and they do not establish which other details painters usually alter or stress. The newest dated fact is from the mid-sixteenth century, so the record offers nothing on how the scene has been shown in recent works ¹³.

Sources