The Sacrifice of Isaac

One of my favorite passages in the bible as it foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus, this story has been a common subject in Christian art.

The paintings done by various artists have all the elements of the story in it: the Angel of the Lord; the ram; and Isaac and Abraham. Although rightfully considered great works of art, the presentation of these elements are often not scripturally correct.

This study is not a lesson in art history. It is not an evaluation or critique of the paintings but rather a look at them from a biblical perspective.

Here is part of the biblical account of the sacrifice of Isaac.

Gen 22:6  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

Gen 22:7  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Gen 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Gen 22:9  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Gen 22:10  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

Gen 22:11  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Gen 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Let’s look at 4 paintings done by different famous artists.

The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio 1603

It depicts the Angel of the Lord stopping Abraham from killing Isaac. You can see the angel standing on the ground with the ram next to the altar while Abraham stands over his restrained son holding his knife.

It has some deviations in its account. Although difficult to see in Caravaggio’s style of extreme contrasts of dark and light (known as chiaroscuro), Isaac is on the stone of the altar and not on wood. The burnt offering is not depicted in the painting.

In this painting, the Angel of the Lord is standing on the ground, physically preventing Abraham from his task. In the biblical account, the Angel of the Lord calls from heaven. Nor is Abraham physically restrained.

At this point, according to scripture, Abraham looks up and sees a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. The ram in this painting is just there by the altar. It is not caught in a thicket.

 The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio 1598

In another painting by Caravaggio, the depiction of the story is similar. The docile ram is right there at the altar ready to be sacrificed instead of in a thicket. Wood is subtlety shown near Isaac in an allusion to the burnt offering.  

Abraham and Isaac by Titian 1542-1544

This painting by Titian comes closer to being biblically accurate. The angel of the Lord is seen floating in the sky. This is as close as a painting can get to visually depicting a voice from heaven. However the angel appears to be physically restraining Abraham. It is difficult to tell if Isaac is bound as the bible tells us he was, but he is held in place by his father.

Le Sacrifice d’Isaac by Philippe de Champaigne (no exact date, 1602-1674 lifespan of the artist)

This final painting by de Champaigne is the most accurate of the ones presented. In it, the Angel of the Lord is seen in the sky. He addresses Abraham but does not physically restrain him. Isaac is bound on a pile of wood on the altar, with a flame in a pot at the base, ready to be used for the burnt offering. Nearby a ram is shown caught by its horns in a thicket.

Overall the major elements are present and remind the viewers of the sacrifice of Isaac. While not entirely accurate in the details of the story, the theme of this biblical passage is maintained: that of the willingness of Abraham to surrender his son in a sacrifice to honor his God.