Rembrandt's Abraham's Sacrifice: Two Versions of the Same Composition

On 13 July 2004 an exhibition opened displaying works from the State Hermitage and the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. This exhibition in the room of the School of Rembrandt allows visitors to compare two related and, at the same time different compositions.

The earliest mention of the painting entitled Abraham's Sacrifice, which now belongs to the Hermitage, goes back to 1736. This work by Rembrandt painted in 1635 was one of the last acquisitions in the collection of Robert Walpole (1676-1745). In 1779 Empress Catherine the Great purchased the Walpole Collection to fill out the art collection of the Imperial Hermitage in St Petersburg.

The Munich canvas was first firmly associated with the name of Rembrandt in a list of items sold at auction in Amsterdam in 1760. Later the painting entered the collection of Prince Elector Carl Theodor of Mannheim. An inventory of this collection made in 1780 refers to a work called Abraham's Sacrifice, which it attributed to Ferdinand Bol, a student of Rembrandt. This attribution persisted up to the end of the 19th century

Rembrandt’s works of the 1630’s were repeatedly copied in his atelier, where they served as models for his students. These copies were highly appreciated and entered well known collections. Moreover, many artists made variations on Rembrandt’s themes and sold them as originals in the master’s hand. The appearance of a second version of Abraham's Sacrifice dating from 1636 and held in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, demonstrates these principles of work in the Dutch master’s atelier.

Comparison of the two compositions leaves no doubt that they were done by different painters. The author of the Munich canvas followed the Hermitage original and “transposed” its images in a different and individual manner.

Despite the apparent derivation from the Hermitage model, the second version has distinguishing features at the level of the composition itself. The most important of these is the portrayal of the angel appearing not from the left, but from behind Abraham.

The identity of the author of the Munich canvas has not been determined. Most researchers believe it was Govert Flinck, although the mention of Ferdinand Bol in 18th century inventories remains a weighty argument.

This version, as well as several old copies that have come down to us, attest to the enormous success of Abraham's Sacrifice, which embodies a brilliant artistic idea.

The curator of the exhibition and author of a booklet for visitors is I.A. Sokolova, senior researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of Western European Art.

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Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky at the opening of the exhibition

Irina Sokolova, Curator of the exhibition at the opening of the exhibition

Exhibition booklet