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拍品專文
Young Rembrandt had painted the subject of the sacrifice in 1635 (Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) but the etched version appears more subtle in the staging. Abraham, at centre, presses Isaac's head against his side and covers his eyes with his right hand, to spare him from the sight of the knife he holds in the other hand. Isaac, kneeling helpless over a large dish, is rescued by the angel. The messenger sent by God, with his spread wings enclosing the main scene, intervenes in the exact moment when the father is about to accomplish the terrible deed. The figures are mostly rendered in outline, to stand out against the dark and tonal background. The image is in essence completed in etching, and then worked up and enhanced with touches of drypoint.
The viewer’s gaze is directed towards the steep ravine, down from Mount Moriah. The precipitous landscape on the one hand lends the scene a heightened sense of menace and drama, while the view onto the resting companions and the travelers on the road are reminiscent of depictions of the Agony in the Garden (B. 75; New Holl. 269). This is perhaps a meaningful association, as the sacrifice of Isaac has been interpreted by Christian scholars as an Old Testament foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ, and both as a test of obedience to the Lord.
The British Museum holds a drawing by Rembrandt of the same subject in black and red chalk with grey wash, which has been dated to the mid-1630s (inv. no. 1897,1117.5). It shows a slightly later moment of the event, as the Angel holds back Abraham’s hand, and he lets go of the knife. The youth’s position is also different, kneeling, but with his torso and head pulled back, but the two compositions are clearly related. About twenty years lie between the drawing and the print, and it is intriguing to think whether Rembrandt, after all this time, went back to his initial sketch when he set out to make the etching.
The viewer’s gaze is directed towards the steep ravine, down from Mount Moriah. The precipitous landscape on the one hand lends the scene a heightened sense of menace and drama, while the view onto the resting companions and the travelers on the road are reminiscent of depictions of the Agony in the Garden (B. 75; New Holl. 269). This is perhaps a meaningful association, as the sacrifice of Isaac has been interpreted by Christian scholars as an Old Testament foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ, and both as a test of obedience to the Lord.
The British Museum holds a drawing by Rembrandt of the same subject in black and red chalk with grey wash, which has been dated to the mid-1630s (inv. no. 1897,1117.5). It shows a slightly later moment of the event, as the Angel holds back Abraham’s hand, and he lets go of the knife. The youth’s position is also different, kneeling, but with his torso and head pulled back, but the two compositions are clearly related. About twenty years lie between the drawing and the print, and it is intriguing to think whether Rembrandt, after all this time, went back to his initial sketch when he set out to make the etching.