Job's Comforters (Translation)
Les Amis de Job (Primary Title)

Alfred Henri Bramtot, French, 1852 - 1894 (Artist)

1886
French
oil on canvas
Overall (canvas): 33 7/8 × 60 1/4 in. (86.04 × 153.04 cm)
Overall: 48 1/4 × 74 5/8 × 3 1/4 in. (122.56 × 189.55 × 8.26 cm)
2017.209
Not on view

Job's Comforters is inspired by the Old Testament Book of Job, which tells of God giving Satan permission to test Job's steadfastness by any means necessary, with the exception of taking his life. Hearing of the terrible afflictions Satan inflicted upon him, three of Job's friends came to comfort him, but "none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great." (Job 2:13)

Bramtot, a gifted and stylistically innovative pupil of William-Adolphe Bouguereau, exhibited this painting to acclaim first at the Paris Salon, in 1886, and then at the Chicago World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893, where it was praised by the New York Times.

Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment and gift of C. I. Planning Corporation, by exchange
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.