Job Reproved by His Friends

James Barry

dated 1777; issued ca. 1790 · Etching over traces of aquatint; third state of five · Drawings and Prints

Job sits on the ground with his hands clasped, resigned to suffering, as lightning strikes his distant house and the bodies of his sons are borne away. As Job’s wife points toward heaven, friends have gathered to offer advice, including Elihu (the young man standing at left), Liphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (seated on the ground). One of Barry’s most dramatic aquatints and his most impressive biblical composition, the image encapsulates the aesthetic concept of the Sublime as formulated by Barry’s mentor and patron, the philosopher Edmund Burke. In a famous treatise from 1757, Burke, to whom the print is dedicated, presents the noble suffering and elemental violence in the story of Job as exemplifying the "boundless magnitude of God’s overwhelming power."

Artist

James Barry

Date

dated 1777; issued ca. 1790

Medium

Etching over traces of aquatint; third state of five

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, PECO Foundation Gift, 2016