Attributed to Jan van der Hamen

Attributed to JAN VAN DER HAMEN Y LEÓN (Madrid, 1596 - 1631).
"Abraham and the three angels.
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 59 x 38,5 cm; 78 x 56,5 cm (frame).

This work represents the episode known as the appearance of Mambré, narrated in chapter 18 of Genesis (1-5). In it, Yahweh and two angels (figures later interpreted as a prefiguration of the Trinity) appear to Abraham in the oak grove of Mamre, in human form. The patriarch welcomes these guests in his house and feeds them, and during the meal one of his guests reiterates that his wife Sarah will have a son a year later. This particular scene captures the moment when the three angels arrive at Abraham's house, who is on the ground kneeling before the angels, thus adopting a supplicant posture and accepting that they are his guests.

Because of its morphological characteristics, this work can be attributed to Jan Van der Hamen, a painter who specialized in still lifes during the first half of the Spanish Golden Age together with Juan Sánchez Cotán. Van der Hamen was born in Madrid into an aristocratic family of Flemish origin, who had settled in Spain to serve the Habsburgs at court. Like his father and grandfather, he was a member of the Guard of Archers, a select corps of men of noble lineage who were in charge of protecting the king. However, precisely because of this privilege he could never be appointed painter to the king, as it was not permitted for one person to hold two high offices. Van der Hamen and his followers were the protagonists of the Madrid still life of the first half of the 17th century, with a style marked by tenebrist naturalism. However, the master did not devote himself exclusively to the genre, but also excelled as an excellent portraitist and figure painter. His characters, like the elements of his still lifes, always stood out for their high level of naturalism. He was an intellectual painter and, despite his early death, he left an immense legacy of works and treatises on art. His first commission in the court took place in 1615, and it was a still life that was to form a pair with another already painted, by Sánchez Cotán. From then on, the influence of the Toledo master would be key in his production. Already in his first works, Van der Hamen showed himself to be an artist capable of gathering elements from different origins, adapting them to the Spanish public and to his own style. Thus, he received a certain Italian influence, through the work of Juan Bautista Maíno, a Castilian painter trained in Italy. In the same way, his work shows a Flemish substratum that speaks of the origin of his family; he paints on copper or board as well as on canvas, something that was not common in Spain, and his knowledge of Flemish still life masters such as Clara Peeters or Frans Snyders can also be appreciated. Van der Hamen is represented in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Metropolitan of New York and the National Galleries of Washington and Dublin, among others.