Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s watercolour of Rachel and Leah was commissioned by John Ruskin and depicts Dante’s third dream (Purgatorio 27). There is an important absence in Dante’s vision: Jacob. This absence serves as an empowering reminder that these women had their own lives and were not mere players in Jacob’s story. Rossetti reflects this in the way he foregrounds the two female figures.

Jacob and Rachel’s meeting, as recounted in the biblical text, follows a literary pattern. It sits alongside other Pentateuchal betrothals, all of which adhere to certain narrative motifs. There is a common feminist critique of these betrothal scenes: they all centre on the men. The women are enveloped and become footnotes in the male protagonists’ stories. This could absolutely be true of Rachel, just as it is commonly noted to be the case for Rebekah (Genesis 24) and Zipporah (Exodus 2).

However, one woman is so overlooked that often she does not feature even in these critiques. That woman is Leah.

Leah has commonly been interpreted as the less attractive, and thus unwanted, sister on account of her rak (weak or delicate or soft) eyes in contrast to the Genesis text’s description of Rachel as yapheh ‘beautiful’ (29:17). But in this watercolour of Dante’s dream, all standard interpretative tropes seem to have been shirked. Leah, as well as Rachel, is paid a great deal of attention.

There are similarities in the women’s appearance, enhancing their sisterhood, though also subtle differences. While Rachel’s purple attire appears to be formal and regal, with cloak, gilded girdle, and veil, Leah’s green dress, with its short sleeves, is more simple, and her flowing hair is uncovered and adorned with a rose. 

Rossetti visually affords both sisters the role of ‘anti-sirens’, reflecting their appearance in Purgatorio 27; rather than leading one astray, they are symbols of the correct path (Barolini 2014). While Rachel can be seen gazing into the water, transforming Genesis 29’s well into something more like the ‘mirror’ of which Dante speaks, Leah appears to be tending to honeysuckle. In so doing, they are personifying contemplation and action. Together, they are the fulfilment of a holistic and virtuous life.

According to Rossetti’s painting of Dante’s vision, it could be argued that the fact that they are married to the same man is a mere footnote in their story.

References

Barolini, Teodolinda. 2014. ‘Purgatorio 27: Remember, Remember!’, Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante (New York: Columbia University Libraries), available at https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/purgatorio/purgatorio-27/ [accessed 4 November 2024]

n.d. ‘Dante’s Vision of Rachel and Leah’, Rossetti Archive, available at  https://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/s74.raw.html [accessed 4 November 2024]