The shepherd Jacob sleeps on his side beside a tree, while the ladder of his dream appears behind him not as timber but as a diagonal band of golden light. Ribera, the Spanish painter who worked in Naples and was known for harsh tenebrist contrasts, here gives most of the canvas to a quiet, glowing sky. Its warm tones later led collectors to take it for a Murillo.
Look closer
The angels on the ladder are barely there, small shapes dissolving into the haze. Ribera signed and dated the canvas, yet it was listed as a Murillo in Queen Isabel Farnese's collection.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
