The Sacrifice of Isaac,
oil on canvas, 108 x 164 cm, framed

Provenance:
European Private Collection

The present composition was first associated with Caravaggio but is in fact based on Bartolomeo Cavarozzi’s Sacrifice of Isaac (oil on canvas, 116 x 175 cm, sold Sotheby´s, London 9th July 2014, lot 30). The composition is an example of early naturalism and the London painting was considered to be a lost work by Caravaggio. However recent scholarship has proposed the attribution to Cavarozzi.

The present work masterfully displays the raking light definitive of the tenebrist style. However it is imbued with an interest in light and texture that displays an evident understanding of Caravaggio’s radical innovations and also points to a marked stylistic development and evolution in the Caravaggesque style. The figures are portrayed in the same naturalist spirit as Caravaggio but with a softer and more graceful lyricism.

A celebrated painting of the same subject by Caravaggio from 1603 is today in the Uffizi, Florence. The composition shows the same moment on Mount Moriah, when the angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from taking his son’s life. However the artistic interpretation is different. The Uffizi picture is set in daytime and stands out for its violence and physical harshness, particularly in the tension running through Abraham’s body and arms as he holds the screaming Isaac down. Cavarozzi’s interpretation dislays the extent to which he had absorbed Caravaggio’s style and made it his own: Darkness, surely indicative of Abraham’s confusion, surrounds him; the movements are gentle, with a surprising calm dominating the scene as the ethereal angel silently holds back Abraham’s arm. Both Abraham and Isaac have their faces in shadow and held away from the light source, which pierces the composition from the right. The present painting reflects the popularity and influence of Cavarozzi’s successful composition.