Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, 'The Sacrifice of Isaac', probably after 1735
About the work
Overview
Piazzetta left this large canvas – probably intended as an altarpiece – unfinished. It depicts the Old Testament story in which Abraham’s faith is tested when he is ordered to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.
Wild-eyed, Abraham raises his arm and looks heavenward in despair. His bearded head is amongst the most finished passages of the painting, while the knife he wields has barely been sketched in. Isaac cowers in fear at his side, his torso roughly rendered in pale paint, as an angel intervenes to save him.
In the early twentieth century, this painting was owned by Roger Fry (1866–1934), the Bloomsbury Group painter and art critic. It seems likely that Fry ‘finished’ the picture, covering much of Piazzetta’s original brushwork. Conservation treatment carried out from 2020 to 2022 removed these additions and revealed that The Sacrifice of Isaac is painted directly on top of another unfinished composition. Piazzetta’s bold handling of paint can now be fully appreciated for the first time in a hundred years.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Sacrifice of Isaac
- Artist
- Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
- Artist dates
- 1683 - 1754
- Date made
- probably after 1735
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 201.2 × 133.4 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Sir Robert Witt through the Art Fund, 1917
- Inventory number
- NG3163
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1956Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1956
-
1986Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this work or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.