Isaac's Sacrifice

Painting from the museum’s collection depicting a scene from the Old Testament - the offering of his only son Isaac by Abraham on Mount Moriah. The scene is described in the Book of Genesis – Abraham, the first patriarch of Israel, depicted as an old man with grey beard (as in the Łańcut painting, he died at the age of 175) was put to the test by God. He was told by the God to sacrifice his only son, even though the Israelites did not offer human sacrifices (as did the pagans). Despite this, Abraham did not hesitate, put a bundle of wood on his son’s shoulders and went with him to Mount Moriah where he built an altar. Having tied up his son, he laid him on the altar and raised his hand with a knife to kill his only child. Then God sent an angel who held up Abraham’s hand with a knife and showed him a lamb entangled with horns in the brush. He also told him that God had put him to the test and, having seen that Abraham did not refuse the command, promised, through the mouth of an angel, to make him a numerous nation, as numerous as the grains of sand in the desert. A lamb was then sacrificed instead of Isaac. This representation is compared to the Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The Łańcut painting with a very dynamic composition shows Isaac lying on the sacrificial altar and Abraham standing with a knife in his hand, facing the angel who, leaning over Abraham, holds back his hand. The dynamism of the composition is also emphasised by the use of light, illuminating those fragments of the painting which constitute its most important content – the hand of the angel holding back the knife, Abraham’s face and Isaac’s back, and the father’s hand holding back his lying son. A work by an unknown painter, representing the Italian school, from approx. 17th century (?) The painting is exhibited in the Room under the Wooden Ceiling on the first floor of the castle.