Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Abraham Sacrificing Isaac
Valentin de Boulogne French
Not on view
Having proved to God his willingness to sacrifice his own son, Abraham is miraculously stopped by the intervention of an angel, who points to a substitute ram. Damaged and unfinished, the picture allows us to see with the aid of infrared imaging (shown nearby) the alternatives Valentin considered as he posed and reposed the models in his studio. The final picture is therefore the culmination of reposing real figures rather than refining the design in drawings. And the result is a human-centered interpretation.
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