Abraham's sacrifice, from a series of scenes of the Genesis with scrolling motifs and grotesque figures on black grounds

Engraving, part of a repetition of a series of six scenes of the Genesis, surrounded by scrolling motifs and grotesque figures on black grounds, created by Étienne Delaune before 1573. This print represents Abraham, on te left, holding a knife on one hand, and in the company of the ram that will replace his son, and Isaac, on the right, carrying a bundle of firewood, each climbing up a thin staircase. The staircases are joined by a large fire, where the sacrifice will take place, which is placed between two small fuming urns; the smoke that they emanate is possibly linked with the ceremony taking place. Climbing up the staircase symbolizes the effort that is necessary to conquer virtue, and the act of submission that is represented in Abraham's sacrifice is seen as an act of virtue. The notion of virtue is also recalled by the presence of two larger vases, on either side of the print, each with flowers, a palm leaf, and a branch of laurel. Two additional branches of laurel are behind two donkeys which stand under the staircase, to the sides of a man. The donkeys might be symbols of ignorance, and are possibly related to the two sphinges on the corners, making up the edges of the stairs; on their tails sit two demons playing horns. These might be representations of both ignorance or knowledge; it is likely that this representation is an allusion of the path that needs to be traveled to arrive from ignorance to knowledge in the acquisition of virtue.