# Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [WERFF, Adriaen van der]() - Date: 1651-1700 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 76,3 x 61 cm ## Commentary In the biblical story Sarah, still childless in maturity, gave her Egyptian slave to her husband Abraham, so he could produce an heir with her. Hagar's smooth nudity announces her success in arousing the aging man - a feat that later caused his wrenching dilemma, when Sarah gave birth to Isaac and asked Abraham to dismiss Hagar and her son. The air of illicit titillation suffusing the painting, roundly condemned by Calvinist preachers, surely enhanced its appeal, even or possibly because the represented woman is ultimately two-dimensional and cold. It offers allowable pleasure, vicarious thrills that can be experienced without moral danger. ## Related artworks - [Amorous Couple Spied upon by Children]() - [Amorous Shepherds]() - [Children Playing before a Hercules Group \(detail\)]() - [Children Playing before a Hercules Group]() - [Flora with Putti Strewing Flowers \(detail\)]() - [Flora with Putti Strewing Flowers]() - [Flute Playing Shepherd]() - [Holy Family]() - [Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine of Pfalz]() - [Lot and his Daughters]() - [Maria Anna Loisia de'Medici]() - [Sarah Bringing Hagar to Abraham]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()