Abraham's Sacrifice, Rembrandt

The Binding of IsaacGenesis 22:1-19

32 hands · 1492–1754

And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.Genesis 22:10

  1. Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea Mantegna1492Andrea Mantegna
  2. Sacrifice of Isaac, Raphael1511Raphael
  3. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Mariotto Albertinelli1511Mariotto Albertinelli
  4. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Antonio di Donnino di Domenico del Mazziere1525Antonio di Donnino di Domenico del Mazziere
  5. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Brunswick Monogrammist1525Brunswick Monogrammist
  6. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1527Andrea del Sarto
  7. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1527Andrea del Sarto
  8. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Andrea del Sarto1528Andrea del Sarto
  9. Sacrifice of Isaac, Lucas Cranach the Elder1530Lucas Cranach the Elder
  10. The sacrifice of Abraham: An angel restraints Abraham from sacrifycing Isaac; the servants wait at the foot of the mountain (Genesis 22:10-12), Lucas Cranach the Elder1531Lucas Cranach the Elder
  11. The sacrifice of Abraham, Master of the Augsburg Ecce Homo1540Master of the Augsburg Ecce Homo
  12. Landscape with the Offering of Isaac, Herri met de Bles1540Herri met de Bles
  13. Sacrifice of Isaac, Titian1542Titian
  14. Abrahams offering, Unknown1549Unknown
  15. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Paolo Veronese1585Paolo Veronese
  16. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Paolo Veronese1588Paolo Veronese
  17. Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio1590Caravaggio
  18. Abraham's Sacrifice, Annibale Carracci1599Annibale Carracci
  19. Wooded Landscape with Abraham and Isaac, Jan Brueghel the Elder1599Jan Brueghel the Elder
  20. Sacrifice of Isaac, Caravaggio1603Caravaggio
  21. Sacrifice of Isaac, Cigoli1607Cigoli
  22. Wooded landscape with the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22), Abraham Govaerts1607Abraham Govaerts
  23. The sacrifice of Abraham, Pieter Lastman1612Pieter Lastman
  24. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Peter Paul Rubens1612Peter Paul Rubens
  25. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Pedro Orrente1616Pedro Orrente
  26. The Angel of the Lord Preventing Abraham from Sacrificing his Son Isaac, Pieter Lastman1616Pieter Lastman
  27. Abraham's Sacrifice, Rembrandt1635RembrandtThis record
  28. Abraham and Isaac, Rembrandt van Rijn1645Rembrandt van Rijn
  29. Abraham Preparing to Sacrifice Isaac, Giovanni Antonio Burrini1685Giovanni Antonio Burrini
  30. Sacrifice of Isaac, Unknown1750Unknown
  31. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Jean Jacques Spoede1750Jean Jacques Spoede
  32. The Sacrifice of Isaac, Francesco Guardi1754Francesco Guardi

What it depicts

Genesis 22:1-19The Akedah. Nineteen verses that painters have returned to for six hundred years, almost always at the same instant — the knife raised, the angel arriving — which is the tenth verse and not the first. Where the picture stops is itself an argument about the passage.

1After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

2He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.

3So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

4And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.

5And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.

6And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,

7Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?

8And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.

9And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

10And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.

11And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

12And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.

14And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.

15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:

16By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:

17I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.

18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.

Read it in Genesis

Seen

Not yet checked

Suggested by an AI model, 2026-09-08 (hf.co/mradermacher/iconclass-vlm-GGUF:Q4_K_M), asked “Generate Iconclass labels for this image”. No one has checked these against the picture yet.

Iconclass
12B631A54(+073D89

Of

The subjects are the library’s own joins, each marked with who made it. The other rows are claims by the holder and by Wikidata, read 2026-09-04, and join nothing until an editor confirms them.

Subject
The Binding of IsaacGenesis 22:1-19joined by editor
Iconclass
71C131371C1313117131D12youth, young man, adolescent47D8(KNIFE)11Gangels31D16old man71C131The sacrifice of Isaac31A(+73)the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) (+ three persons)
Wikidata depicts
Abraham, angel, Isaac

Means

No reading yet.

Rights

Credit
Hermitage Museum, ГЭ-727, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Licence
PDM-1.0
Evidence
wikidata:P6216=public domain on Q10749451; commons:License=pd (Public domain) on File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 035.jpg (read 2026-08-13)
Record
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10749451
Abraham's Sacrifice, Rembrandt
Abraham's Sacrifice — Rembrandt1635

How this join was made

Hermitage Museum gives this object the Iconclass notation71C1313 71C131311 71 31D12 47D8(KNIFE) 11G 31D16 71C131 31A(+73), and the library's map reads that notation as Genesis 22:1-19. An editor has checked the picture against the passage and confirmed it.

The Hermitage canvas. Abraham does not lower the knife — the angel seizes his arm and the blade is caught in mid-fall, while his other hand covers the whole of his son’s face. Verse 11 arriving a half-second after verse 10.

Within fifty years of 1635

1066
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Paolo Veronese
The Sacrifice of IsaacPaolo Veronese1585Museo del Prado
Kichik Beg Wounded during Babur's Attack on Qalat, from a copy of the Baburnama (Book of Babur), Mughal
Kichik Beg Wounded during Babur's Attack on Qalat, from a copy of the Baburnama (Book of Babur)Mughalc. 1590The Art Institute of Chicago
Lovers parting, page from a book of fables, Unknown
Lovers parting, page from a book of fablesUnknownc. 1590–95Cleveland Museum of Art
Calligraphy: Preface to the Anvar-i Suhaili, Unknown
Calligraphy: Preface to the Anvar-i SuhailiUnknownc. 1590Cleveland Museum of Art
Adoration of the Magi, Maarten de Vos (Flemish, 1532–1603)
Adoration of the MagiMaarten de Vos (Flemish, 1532–1603)c. 1590Cleveland Museum of Art
Somniorum synesiorum omnis generis insomnia explicantes, libri IIII : quibus accedunt, eiusdem haec etiam De libris propriis ... ; De curationibus et praedictionibus admirandis ; Neronis encomium ; Geometriae encomium, Cardano, Girolamo
Somniorum synesiorum omnis generis insomnia explicantes, libri IIII : quibus accedunt, eiusdem haec etiam De libris propriis ... ; De curationibus et praedictionibus admirandis ; Neronis encomium ; Geometriae encomiumCardano, Girolamo1585Stiftung der Werke von C.G.Jung, Zürich
Sculptura in Aes, The Workshop of an Engraver, Jan van der Straet, called Johannes Stradanus (Netherlandish, active Italy, 1523–1605); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612)
Sculptura in Aes, The Workshop of an EngraverJan van der Straet, called Johannes Stradanus (Netherlandish, active Italy, 1523–1605); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612); Philip Galle (Flemish, 1537–1612)c. 1591Cleveland Museum of Art
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Paolo Veronese
The Sacrifice of IsaacPaolo Veronese1588Kunsthistorisches Museum

Similar picturesFound by visual likeness

6 pictures

Visual resemblances suggested by the model. A match does not establish a shared subject or historical connection.

Sacrifice of Isaac, Unknown
Sacrifice of IsaacUnknown1750Medobčinski muzej Kamnik
0.84
The Angel of the Lord Preventing Abraham from Sacrificing his Son Isaac, Pieter Lastman
The Angel of the Lord Preventing Abraham from Sacrificing his Son IsaacPieter Lastman1616Department of Paintings of the Louvre
0.84
The sacrifice of Abraham, Pieter Lastman
The sacrifice of AbrahamPieter Lastman1612Rijksmuseum
0.83
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Pedro Orrente
The Sacrifice of IsaacPedro Orrente1616Bilbao Fine Arts Museum
0.83
The Adoration of the Shepherds, El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) and Workshop
The Adoration of the ShepherdsEl Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) and Workshopca. 1612–14Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
0.83
The Sacrifice of Isaac, Peter Paul Rubens
The Sacrifice of IsaacPeter Paul Rubens1612The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
0.83

In the stacks

Not yet checked2

Passages in the library’s own holdings that name this maker. The model ranked them; nobody has checked that the name means this person.

  1. Seven Discourses on Art · Joshua, Sir Reynolds

    By this mode of reasoning Rembrandt has a higher place than Raffaelle. But a very little reflection will serve to show us that these particularities cannot be nature: for how can that be the nature of man, in which no two individuals are the same? It plainly appears that as a work is conducted under the influence of general ideas or partial it is principally to be considered as the effect of a good or a bad taste. As beauty therefore does not consist in taking what lies immediately before
    0.69

  2. principles of art history · heinrich wolfflin

    PAINTING 95 Rembrandt The great Ecce Homo (etching of 1650) is an analogous case. As is known, the schema of the composition dates back to a Cinquecentist, Lucas van Leyden. A house wall and a terrace before it, seen frontally; people who have taken up their stand side by side in rows on and in front of the terrace—how are we to get a baroque picture out of all that? We learn with Rembrandt that it is not the subject but the treatment which matters. While Lucas van Leyden exhausts
    0.68

Connections

Depicts

  • The Binding of IsaacThe Hermitage canvas. Abraham does not lower the knife — the angel seizes his arm and the blade is caught in mid-fall, while his other hand covers the whole of his son’s face. Verse 11 arriving a half-second after verse 10.

Next

Made in the seventeenth century, like Abraham's Sacrifice.

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