Giovanni Battista Gaulli presented the Old Testament narrative of Abraham sacrificing his only son to God with dynamic theatricality. The heroic figures of Abraham and the angel are clothed in swirling drapery that reflects the artist’s training under Bernini, Rome’s most renowned artist. The painting’s original context is unknown, but by 1761 the work had entered the home of Gaulli’s son Giulio, where it was displayed alongside other biblical works, including another work on view in this gallery, The Thanksgiving of Noah.
