of the head of the center-most figure. The branches and leaves shoot out directly toward the upper right corner of the painting to form a second frame around the angel and Jacob. The overall perspective of this painting is purposely skewed but effectively accomplished by his clustering of people in diminished sizes along its left edge. "Further, it was Emile Bernard who pointed out the general influence of Japanese prints on Gauguin’s work. This seems self-evident when one compares Gauguin’s Vision after the Sermon to Vincent van Gogh’s Trees, a copy after Hiroshige, with its diagonally placed tree and use of red. In citing Hokusai’s Sumo wrestlers in The Manga, however, Bernard was being more specific. He designated them as the source of Gauguin’s struggling angel and Jacob". One can see their features, in the faces, of the women that are closer to the viewer. The tale of Jacob wrestling an angel is from Genesis 32:22-31 in the Old Testament. Gauguin is making use of Breton themes while at the same time leaning towards abstraction. The women, one of whom clasps her hands in prayer, are wearing a variety of white hats and seem to be the ones having this vision. Several colors stand out above the rest, including the reds, black, and white, and contribute to the visual energy of the scene. The color most likely to catch the viewer's attention first in this painting would be red, which in this particular painting lends power to the struggle that is occurring. References Further reading Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, Richard G. Tansey. Gardner's Art through the Ages (Eleventh Edition). Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001, Chapter 28. Perry, Gill. "Primitivism and the ‘Modern’", in Charles Harrison, Francis Frascina and Gill Perry, (Eds.) Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 3–85. External links Art and the Bible Paul Gauguin, Vision after the Sermon, or Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1888, video, Smarthistory WebMuseum: Gauguin, (Eugène-Henri-) Paul Vision After the Sermon, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel Paintings by Paul Gauguin 1888 paintings Paintings in the National Galleries of Scotland Angels in art Paintings depicting Jacob Mammals in art