The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Sacrifice of Isaac

The Sacrifice of Isaac

c. 1527
(Italian, 1486–1530)
Framed: 208 x 171 x 12.5 cm (81 7/8 x 67 5/16 x 4 15/16 in.); Unframed: 178 x 138 cm (70 1/16 x 54 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The angel has two visible sets of legs, showing the artist’s revision of the composition.

Description

In this dramatic test of faith from the Old Testament book of Genesis, Abraham agrees to slay his son Isaac on God’s command. As Abraham raises the knife, an angel suddenly appears to halt the sacrifice. This work gains its power from the complex expressions of father and son, combining grief, strength, resignation, fear, and realization in their faces and bodies, the latter inspired by ancient sculpture and Michelangelo. Andrea del Sarto never finished this painting, and it lays bare his working methods. He transferred the design to the panel from a drawing, reinforcing the chalk with painted lines—best seen in the donkey at the far right. He then worked over the whole panel at once with thin, brushy veils of color, letting him alter the composition while painting—especially evident in the angel, Isaac’s body, and Abraham’s head.
  • Overall, the painting is in stable condition. The panel is composed of four members, vertically grained, each member tangentially cut and coming from near the center of the tree. Three cross braces were at some point slid into grooves cut into the back of the support and transverse the entire width of the painting, tapering from one side to the other. The wood of the panel was analyzed as poplar and the center cross brace as European chestnut. The ground was analyzed and contains calcium sulphate (gypsum). Underdrawing is present and appears to be with the calco method (comprised of charcoal black, gypsum, and brown ochre). It appears that once the underdrawing was set onto the ground layer, and the painting stage started, del Sarto and/or his studio assistants made both major and minor alterations. The minor alterations seem to be corrections and adjustments for more successful placement of figures and overall composition.
  • By 1649
    Cardinal Carlo de' Medici, Florence
    Possibly the Montalvi Collection, Florence
    Possibly the Peruzzi Collection, Florence
    By 1829
    Zondadari Collection, Florence
    1846 - 1858
    William Cave, died 1858 (Brentry House, near Bristol, bought in Florence in 1846), by inheritance to his wife.
    1858
    Mrs. William Cave
    1858
    Sold, Christie's, London, June 22, 1858, lot 102
    1858 - 1882
    Possibly Peters
    1882 - ?
    George Cornwall Legh, High Legh, Co. Chester
    ? - 1935
    Lieutenant Colonel Henry Cornwall Legh, High Legh, Co. Chester
    1935
    Sold at Sotheby's, London, May 21, 1935, to Spencer Samuels
    1935 - 1937
    Spencer Samuels, T. Harris, London, and Durlacher Brothers, New York
    1937 -
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Biadi, Luigi. Notizie inedite della vita dA̕ndrea del Sarto, raccolte da manoscritti. Firenze, Italy: Tip. Bonducciana, 1831. Reproduced: p. 163, no. 2
    Reumont, Alfred von. Andrea del Sarto. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1835. Mentioned: P.183
    Venturi, Adolfo. La R. Galleria Estense in Modena. Modena: P. Toschi, 1882. Mentioned: P. 257
    Redford, George. Art Sales. A History of Sales of Pictures and Other Works of Art. With Notices of the Collections Sold, Names of Owners, Titles of Pictures, Prices and Purchasers, Arranged Under the Artists of the Different Schools in Order of Date. Including the Purchases and Prices of Pictures for the National Gallery. London: [Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., Printers, the "Whitefriars" Press], 1888. Mentioned: V. II, P. 251
    Vasari, Giorgio. Le opere di Giorgio Vasari. Firenze: G.C. Sansoni, 1906. Mentioned: Vol. V, P. 52
    Guinness, H. Andrea Del Sarto. London, United Kingdom: G. Bell, 1907. Mentioned: p. 74-75
    Graves, Algernon. Century of Loan Exhibitions 1813-1912. London: Graves, 1913. Mentioned: Vol. III, p. 1198
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced: p. 406; Mentioned: p. 407-409
    Francis, Henry S. "An Unfinished Version of the 'Sacrifice of Abraham' by Andrea del Sarto." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXV, no. 3 (March, 1938):39-42. Reproduced: p. 37; Detail: p.38
    "Au Cleveland Museum of Art." Mouseion. (Avril 1938) 13-14. Mentioned: p. 13
    Gibson, Katharine. Pictures to Grow Up With. New York, NY: Studio Publications, 1942. Reproduced: p. 90
    Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. 52 archive.org
    Coe, Nancy. The History of the Collecting of European Paintings and Drawings in the City of Cleveland. Thesis M.A. Oberlin College, 1956. Reproduced: Vol. II, P. 216, no. 21
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 407 archive.org
    Härth, Isolde. "Zu Andrea Del Sartos "Opfer Abrahams"." Mitteilungen Des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 8, no. 3 (1959): 167-73. Mentioned: P. 167, n. 2 www.jstor.org
    Wescher, Paul. La prima idea: die Entwicklung der Ölskizze von Tintoretto bis Picasso. München, Germany: F. Bruckmann, 1960. Reproduced: p. 19, pl. 3, fig. 2
    Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places : Florentine School. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon Press, 1963. Mentioned: p. 1, 7
    Freedberg, S. J. Andrea Del Sarto. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963. Reproduced: vol. I, p. 77-70, figs. 179-184;
    Jaffe, Michael. "The Figurative Arts of the West, ca. 1400-1800." Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors 75, no. 22 (1963): Mentioned: p. 458; Reproduced: fig. 4, p. 460
    Shearman, John K. G. Andrea Del Sarto. Oxford, United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reproduced: p. 110-111, pl. 146, 148 a and b, vol. I; p. 216, no. 79. vol. II
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 92 archive.org
    Hillyer, V. M., and E. G. Huey. Fine Art; [the Last Two Hundred Years]. New York, NY: Meredith Press, 1966. Reproduced: p. 78
    Coe, Ralph T. "Rubens in 1614: 'The Sacrifice of Abraham.'" The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin IV, no. 7 (December 1966): 1-22. Mentioned: P. 2; reproduced: P.3, fig. 1
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Selected Works: Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1967. Reproduced: no. 140
    Murray, Linda. The High Renaissance. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1967. Reproduced: P. 160, fig. 118
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 92 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Berthold Fricke. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Hannover: Knorr & Hirth, 1970. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 44-45
    Avery, Catherine B., ed. The New Century Italian Renaissance Encyclopedia. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972. Mentioned: P. 42
    Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972. Mentioned: P. 8, 255, 573
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Agnolo Bronzino: Portrait of a Young Lady." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art LXI, no. 1 (January, 1975):3-13. Detail Reproduced: p. 6
    Fader, Martha Alice Agnew. Sculpture in the Piazza Della Signoria: As Emblem of the Florentine Republic. Thesis Ph.D. Ann Anbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1977. Reproduced: p. 339, fig. 27
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 107 archive.org
    Vos, Rik. Lucas van Leyden. Bentveld, Netherlands: Landshoff, 1978. Mentioned: p. 56-57; Reproduced: fig. 80
    Hall, Marcia B. Color and Meaning: Practice and Theory in Renaissance Painting. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Reproduced: p. 147, fig. 47
    Masterpieces from East and West. New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992. Reproduced: p. 109
    Natali, Antonio. Andrea Del Sarto. New York, NY: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1999. Reproduced: p. 183, no. 179
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned: p. 50; Reproduced: p. 50, 51
    Keiith, Larry. "Andrea del Sarto's 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist': Technique and Critical Reception." National Gallery Technical Bulletin 22 (2001): 42-53. Mentioned: P. 50; Reproduced: P. 50-51, pl. 7 & 9
    Franklin, David, Louis Alexander Waldman, and Andrew Butterfield. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the Renaissance in Florence. Ottawa, Ontario: National Gallery of Canada, 2005. Mentioned: p. 150; Reproduced: fig. 40
    Iacono, Margaret. Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: The Frick Collection, 2006. Mentioned: p. 24-27; Reproduced: no. 3
    Channing, Laurence, "Personal and Professional", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 10, December 2006 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4 archive.org
    Boskovits, Miklós, ed. Italian Paintings from the 13th to 15th Century. Firenze, Italy: Polistampa, 2009. Mentioned: p. 20
    Wetering, Ernst van de. Rembrandt: The Painter at Work. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2009. Reproduced: p. 32, fig. 35
    Hilaire, Michel, and Axel Hémery. Corps et ombres: Caravage et le caravagisme européen. Milan, Italy: 5 continents, 2012. Reproduced: p. 72, fig. 1
    Hout, Nico van, and Ted Alkins. The unfinished painting. 2012. Ghent, Belgium: Ludion, 2012. Mentioned: p. 4, p. 82-84; Reproduced: Fig. 82
    Pontormo, Jacopo da, Bastian Eclercy, and Ralf Bormann. Pontormo: Meisterwerke des Manierismus in Florenz. Hannover, Germany: Landesmuseum Hannover, 2013. Reproduced: p. 73, fig. 52; Mentioned: p. 207
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 176
    Bomford, David. Unfinished Paintings: Narratives of the Non Finito. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland: in association with the University of Edinburgh, 2015. Mentioned p. 17; Reproduced: p. 18
    Carmen C. Bambach, exhibition review of Andrea del Sarto, The Burlington Magazine 158, no. 1354 (January 2016). Mentioned: p. 70-72; Reproduced: p. 70, fig. 95
    Jenison, Tim, Jonathan Janson, and David Walsh. Hound in the Hunt: Optical Aids in Art. Berriedale, Tas.: Museum of Old and New Art, 2016. Reproduced: p. 96, fig. 2.4
    Steele, Marcia. "The Three Versions of The Sacrifice of Isaac." Kermes: La Rivista del Restauro 29/30, no. 104/105 (October 2016- March 2017): 123-142. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 123-142
    Schumacher, Andreas, et. al. Florentiner Malerei: Alte Pinakothek : die Gemälde des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts. [München]: Alte Pinakothek; Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2017. Reproduced: p. 535, Abb. 37.10; P.536, Abb. 37.12
    Bayer, A., et. al. "Andrea del Sarto's Borgherini Holy Family and Charity: Two Intertwined Late Works." Metropolitan Museum of Art 52 (2017). Mentioned: p. [34]-55; Reproduced: p. 46, fig. 15
    Hall, Marcia B. The Power of Color: Five Centuries of European Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019. Reproduced: p. 127, fig. 3.21
  • Pier Francesco Foschi (1502-1567) Florentine Painter. Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, Florence, Italy (organizer) (November 27, 2023-March 10, 2024).
    Andrea del Sarto: The Renaissance Workshop in Action. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (June 23-September 13, 2015).
    Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29-July 8, 2007).
    Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection, New York, NY (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007).
    Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Renaissance in Florence. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.,, Canada (organizer) (May 27-September 5, 2005).
    Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1971).
    Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    Winter Exhibition. Burlington House, Royal Academy, London, United Kingdom (1882).
  • {{cite web|title=The Sacrifice of Isaac|url=false|author=Andrea del Sarto|year=c. 1527|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1937.577