Abraham Sacrificing His Son Isaac
Giovanni Battista Pittoni
(Italian (Venetian), 1687–1767)
1750-55
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions81.6 x 64.8 cm (32 1/8 x 25 1/2 in.)
Credit LineCharles Potter Kling Fund
Accession number67.968
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Though Abraham was prepared to follow through, at the last instant an angel stayed his hand, and a ram was sacrificed instead. Pittoni distributes each element of the story – the pile of wood, cauldron of fire, Isaac’s discarded clothes, and ram – around the massive central figure of Abraham. The painting’s clear, bright colors and fluttering draperies show the influence of the artist’s Venetian contemporaries, Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
ProvenanceBy 1967, private collection, Venice; sold from private collection to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London; 1967, sold by Agnew to the MFA. (Accession date: November 8, 1967)
Giovanni Battista Cipriani
Giovanni Battista Ruoppolo
Sassoferrato (Giovanni Battista Salvi)
