Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

Genesis 32: 25–33 …

The attribution to Tilens was suggested by Jan de Maere … . The composition of the mountain landscape in the Łazienki painting, divided into three colouristic zones along diagonal lines is characteristic of the work of many Flemish landscapists and, in particular, Joos de Momper II (1564–1635), to whom, incidentally, works by Tilens appearing on the art market are often ascribed. What distinguishes Tilens’ artistic vocabulary is the specific handling: a sketchy technique with nervously applied thin brushstrokes, omitting the details, particularly in the staffage, but also in the manner of rendering the architecture—the forms sketched out quickly, perfunctorily, are undefined, almost hallucinatory. These characteristic features of Tilens’ work can be found in the Łazienki Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, and in his signed works such as Landscape with Hunters and Ancient Ruins on sale at Sotheby’s in London on 16 December 1999 … , or Mountain Landscape with Ruins at Christie’s in London on 17 December 1998 … . [D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 103, pp. 380–381.]