Jacob's Dream by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

This is one of the two outer scenes on the ceiling of the Gallery.

The fresco illustrates Jacob's dream of the ladder to heaven. The artist has moved the ladder, seen ascending into the divine light, from the centre of the picture slightly towards the left. The sleeping Jacob sees in his dream the vision of a divine prophecy, in which he is promised numerous descendants and safe arrival in the land of Canaan under the protection of God himself In form and content, Jacob represents the antithesis of Hagar and Ishmael (shown on the other outer scene), since his line leads directly to Christ. This is reflected compositionally in the way the figure of Jacob is aligned towards the central fresco, The Sacrifice of Isaac.