Jacob and Joseph with his Sons, Ephraim and Menasseh

after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666) . Oil painting on panel, Jacob and Joseph with his Sons, Ephraim and Menasseh, after Guercino (Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666), late 16th - early 19th century. An old, half-naked man, sitting on a bed with a red drapery covering his legs. A dark-haired man kneeling on his right, and two youths on the left. Jacob is blessing Ephraim, his yuonger grandson to the disbelief of Joseph and Manasseh which is shown on their faces. This painting is after the original 'Jacob blessing the Sons of Joseph', painted in Ferrara for Cardinal Jacopo Serra in 1620, and which was in Spain (collection Manuel Godoy) from 1646 to 1808 when this copy was probably made, which was presented by Sir Denis Mahon to the National Gallery of Ireland in 2008. According to the biblical story in the Book of Genesis, Joseph brought his two sons before his father Jacob to be blessed. The blind old man, unexpectedly, crossed his arms, in a prophetic pose of the sign of the cross, and blessed Ephraim, his younger grandson, with his right hand, thus favouring him over his elder brother and from whose descendants Christ was born. Ickworth, Suffolk (Accredited Museum)