Italian school of the seventeenth century. Following models from CARAVAGGIO (Milan, 1571 - Porto Ércole, 1610) or BARTOLOMEO CAVAROZZI (Viterbo, c. 1590 - Rome, September 21, 1625).
"Sacrifice of Isaac."
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Important overpaints and restorations.
19th century frame.
Measurements: 106 x 158 cm; 125 x 176 cm (frame).
We see in this canvas the representation of the religious theme of the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22), specifically the moment in which the angel stops Abraham. The scene appears in the foreground, with the figures completely humanized, located in a prominent half-light.
This work is based on the homonymous work, although of disputed authorship, traditionally attributed to Caravaggio and supposedly painted in 1598. Belonging to the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection in Princeton, it was auctioned in July 2014, then attributed to Bartolomeo Cavarozzi. If it were a work by Caravaggio, it would be the second biblical subject tackled by the artist. It reveals his taste for masculine beauty, placing Isaac as the ideal of youth, while Abraham is an old and aged man, but with great wisdom expressed in his face. Caravaggio placed some objects to make the scene more crude, such as the knives and the submission of the young man. Abraham, before committing murder, is stopped by an angel who tells him that he has passed the test; he is faithful to his God. This painting was exhibited in 1999 at the Museo del Prado in Madrid and at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao, in the first anthological exhibition on Caravaggio organized in Spain. Italian experts asserted in the published catalog that it was certainly the work of the artist, arguing certain peculiarities visible by X-rays. Despite this, the authorship has remained subject to controversy and the painting was auctioned in July 2014 as the work of Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, who -according to recent hypotheses- must have painted it during his stay in Spain around 1617. This would explain the Spanish provenance of the painting before its appearance on the international market.