Vision After the Sermon

Circa 1888, Paul Gauguin created this pioneering work in Pont-Aven, Brittany, marking his decisive break from Impressionism. The painting shows Breton women in traditional headdresses witnessing Jacob wrestling with an angel, the vision occurring after hearing a sermon on the biblical story. A diagonal tree branch dramatically separates the praying figures from the supernatural scene.

The bold red background was radical, abandoning naturalistic color for emotional expression. Gauguin flattened perspective and outlined forms with dark lines, techniques borrowed from Japanese prints and medieval stained glass. This approach influenced the Symbolist movement and later expressionists who sought meaning beyond visual reality.

The painting hangs at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it arrived after Gauguin tried and failed to donate it to a local Breton church.