Abraham and Isaac

The figure of Abraham, patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, from the Book of Genesis, appears repeatedly in Rembrandt’s graphic oeuvre, recurring almost every ten years throughout his career as a printmaker. The artist depicts him for the first time in the mid-1630s in two scenes: ‘Abraham caressing Isaac’ (circa 1637, B. 33), with Isaac still a small child, and ‘Abraham casting out Hagar and Ishmael’ (1637, B. 30). Eight years later, Rembrandt etches the present subject, and a full ten years later ‘Abraham's Sacrifice’ (1655, B. 35). The following year, he returns to the biblical ancestor with ‘Abraham entertaining the Angels’ (1656, B. 29), in a scene inspired by an Islamic miniature, portraying him seated on the ground eating with three angels. It is unknown whether this lack of a chronological approach to the story of Abraham is the result of different commissions, or whether the artist’s personal interest in these subjects was triggered at different times in his life. The man and father Abraham is perpetually challenged by God. It is his inner conflict, as he is confronted with the will of God, that Rembrandt strives to represent, for example when Abraham casts out Hagar, the servant who bore him his son Ishmael: with outstretched arms, Abraham stands in the doorway, torn between his two families. Reluctantly, it seems, he conforms to God’s wish and chooses his wife Sarah. In the present etching, Rembrandt’s genius in depicting intimate yet crucial psychological moments, is equally evident. The scene shows Abraham as he is about to explain his cruel predicament: to sacrifice his favourite son or to disobey God. The setting is a rocky ledge in the mountains of Moriah, a precipitous place, which conveys a sense of dread and impending drama. Isaac, innocently and trustingly, holds a bundle of firewood. His face betrays no terror. He is yet unaware of his apparent destiny as the victim of the sacrifice. As if to receive his orders, he stands before his father, whose gestures reveal his dilemma: Abraham’s right hand is pressed to his heart, while his left points to the sky, expressing at once his love for his son and his obedience to God. The background is executed in a quite a loose and free manner, while the figures and their garments are intricately described and shaded with an elaborate system of lines and hatching. This lends them a chisselled, sculpted quality reminiscent of Mantegna's graphic style - certainly an influence on Rembrandt's printmaking in the later years. The print is known in two states, with posthumous rework constituting the second state. The present example is a fine impression of the first state, with all the fine lines printing clearly and sharply.