Hagar and the Angel in the desert of Beersheba

A popular subject in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Italian art, the story of Hagar and the angel is taken from the Book of Genesis (21:14-19). Hagar, an enslaved woman from Egypt, gave birth to Ishmael, the child of Abraham, whose own wife, Sarah, was thought unable to bear children. Some years later, having had her own son, Isaac, Sarah forced Abraham to expel Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness of Beersheba. There, having run out of water and with her child facing death, Hagar prayed to God to save her. Accordingly, as is depicted in this painting, an angel appeared to Hagar and directed her to a source of water, thus saving her life and that of her son.

Giuseppe Cades was one of the principal artists working in Rome during the latter half of the eighteenth century and is best known today for his highly finished drawings. In his treatment of this subject, Cades would have been aware of - and perhaps influenced by - Pompeo Batoni’s famous Hagar and the Angel (Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini, Rome), as well as versions by Pietro Angeletti (Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome) and Giuseppe Bottani (private collection, Rome).