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The Hermitage is presenting one of its most precious Rembrandts for the first time following a major four-year conservation project: a large history painting depicting the famous Old Testament subject from the Book of Genesis (Gen. 22:1–19).

Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac

According to the biblical account, God set the pious patriarch Abraham a final test, commanding him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. The composition presents the most complex, climactic moment of the narrative – Abraham has already raised the dagger over the submissive, defenseless body of his son, but an angel who suddenly appears stops the patriarch and declares the sacrifice unnecessary: God is now convinced of his faithfulness.

The Sacrifice of Isaac is among the finest examples of Rembrandt’s manner of the 1630s. It was created in 1635, when the young painter was taken with the Baroque style. The composition was influenced by works on the same subject by Pieter Lastman, Rembrandt’s teacher, and his celebrated Flemish contemporary Peter Paul Rubens.

Rembrandt’s interest in his predecessors’ work was combined with a search for new expressiveness. The artist rejected a literal interpretation of the textbook subject: the angel does not merely exhort the prophet from heaven but actively intervenes in the action, grabbing Abraham by the wrist. Through the immediate connection between the three figures – the angel, Abraham and Isaac – a concentration of the dramatic effect is achieved.

With astonishing painterly power and clarity, Rembrandt captured the protagonist’s profound perturbation in the face of divine intervention. The complex pose of the patriarch and the minutest details of his face (slightly reddened eyelids, traces of tears still damp on his cheek and a solitary teardrop caught in his grey beard, his mouth slightly agape) convey the dichotomy of his emotions: a mixture of despair and unwavering faith. The figure of Isaac, with his hands tied behind his back, lying submissively at his father’s feet, is among the most impressive depictions of the nude in the Dutch master’s painting. The falling blade emphasizes the suddenness of the event, while simultaneously demonstrating the incredible power of the artist’s creative imagination.

With its rich composition, this history painting signalled the emergence of a painter who surpassed all his Dutch contemporaries. In the first half of the eighteenth century, the canvas was in the famous picture gallery of the British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole (1676–1745). Then in 1779 Empress Catherine II purchased the Prime Minister’s collection from his descendants, and The Sacrifice of Isaac entered the Imperial Hermitage. A partial copy of the painting, made by one of Rembrandt’s pupils in 1636 and now in the Alte Pinakothek (Munich), is also known.

As an inscription on the reverse of the canvas attests, in 1850 the Hermitage painting was transferred from its old, decayed canvas to a new one by Feodor Tabuntsov (a restorer’s name and the date were only recorded in the case of flawless work). In the twentieth century, The Sacrifice of Isaac was evacuated twice during the world wars.

Conservation Project

Over the years, old retouchings that had changed in tone became visible on the painting’s surface, along with a prominent seam at the join between pieces of canvas and various forms of stiff craquelure with raised edges threatening to flake. Only after scrupulous technical and technological studies confirmed the preservation of the original primer did the Hermitage specialists decide to begin conservation.

The step-by-step methodical work of uncovering  the original paintwork from thick, yellowed varnish and later overpainting, as well as consolidating and conserving it, was carried out over four years. The highly complex conservation was undertaken by Victor Anatolyevich Korobov, Head of the Laboratory for the Scientific Restoration of Easel Paintings at the Hermitage, an restorer-artist of the highest category.

The results achieved have exceeded expectations. The Sacrifice of Isaac once again appears in its original, cool, harmonious coloring, emphasizing Rembrandt’s phenomenal painterly technique, while now clearly seen details of the composition permit a deeper understanding of the work’s concept.

Exhibition

The exhibition displays photographs of the painting under ultraviolet and infrared light, as well as through a stereo-microscope, and electronic micro-photographs taken at various stages in the research and conservation work. After the exhibition closes, The Sacrifice of Isaac will return to the permanent display in the Rembrandt Hall of the New Hermitage (Hall 254).

The exhibition curator is Irina Alexeyevna Sokolova, Doctor of Art History, Chief Researcher in the Department of Western European Fine Art, Keeper of 17th–18th-century Dutch Painting.