Italian school, follower of Caravaggio, XVII century.

Italian school, follower of Caravaggio, XVII century.
"The Sacrifice of Isaac".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 121 x 181 cm; 136 x 174 cm (frame).
In this canvas the artist presents the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac through an aesthetic language of tenebrist heritage. With a particularly dramatic light development, with clear references to antiquity in the models and anatomies and a perfectly calculated and balanced composition, at the same time perfectly understandable and narrative. The main scene is set in the foreground, with Abraham in the center of the composition, drawn with his back to the viewer as he holds his head harshly to the head of his son on the altar. The artist presents us with a moment stopped in time where the biblical story is at its dramatic zenith, just the moment before where the emotion is contained by the viewer, who contemplates the image trying to figure out the ending. This theatricality, which is reinforced by the use of dramatic lighting that sharpens the flesh tones and leaves the rest of the elements that make up the scene in penumbra, was a common resource in the Italian school, especially in the south of the country that became one of the most important artistic centers of the seventeenth century, a sign of formal and technical quality, but valued for its ability to immortalize emotion and drama.
The scene relates the moment described in the Old Testament in which Abraham, following God's orders, prepares to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God, seeing that Abraham follows his command with blind faith, sees his faithfulness tested and sends an angel to save Isaac at the last moment, ordering that a lamb be offered in his place. This scene illustrates the theological concept that tells us that divine mercy rewards those who have faith, and in it we see Abraham's unquestioning acceptance of the divine message, as well as Isaac's absolute meekness.