Binding of Isaac

This painting by Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra, dated around 1650, depicts the Old Testament episode in which Abraham, following a divine command and as a test of faith, prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac. The scene freezes the decisive moment, just before an angel intervenes to stop the sacrifice. According to Antonio Palomino, a pupil of the painter, the canvas once belonged to a series of four works that were kept in the house of the treasurer of the cathedral of Granada. Centuries later, in 2008, the Museo de Bellas Artes de Córdoba acquired this piece together with The Dream of Saint Joseph, another work from the same series, and it is still held there. Given its modest size and religious subject, it belongs to the devotional output of the Baroque Córdoba school, in which Castillo held a prominent place. The picture condenses the drama of the story into a restrained composition, where the tension between father and son becomes the expressive heart of the scene.

Painter

Antonio del Castillo y Saavedra

Date

1650

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

46 × 36 cm

Museum

Museum of Fine Arts of Córdoba, Córdoba

Movement

Baroque painting, Cordoba School of Painting

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Isaac

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