One of the patriarchs of the Israelites, Jacob had twelve sons who were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
The collection of thirteen portraits produced by Spain's Francisco de Zurbarán in the mid-17th century are leaving Auckland Castle in County Durham to go on display outside of Europe for the first time.
They will undergone infrared reflectography, ultra-violet light, X-radiography and pigment analysis at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth in Texas.
We're sending our Zurbarán paintings to be studied & exhibited in the USA for the very first time #Zurbarantour pic.twitter.com/ybBLKM6Sm3
— Auckland Castle (@aucklandcastle) August 1, 2016
During the 18-month journey stateside, the paintings will also be exhibited at The Meadows Museum in Dallas and at The Frick Collection in New York.
Restoration work will see Auckland Castle close at the end of September.
Clare Baron, Auckland Castle's Temporary Exhibitions Curator, said: "The start of the extensive works at the Castle has presented us with a golden opportunity to investigate these masterworks in minute detail, and hopefully shed new light on what today comprises one of the most significant public collections of Francisco de Zurbarán's work outside Spain."
Funded by The Meadows Foundation, the research we be supervised by the Director of Conservation at the Kimbell Art Museum, Claire Barry.
Dr Chris Ferguson, Auckland Castle's Curatorial Director, added: "[T]his collaborative project will allow us to learn much more about these Spanish artistic gems, and will showcase them to a new audience in the United States.
"We hope that these focused exhibitions of the art from County Durham will also attract transatlantic visitors to Bishop Auckland over the coming years."