# The Sacrifice of Isaac [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PIAZZETTA, Giovanni Battista]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 100 x 126 cm ## Commentary The Sacrifice of Isaac c. 1715 Oil on canvas, 100 x 126 cm Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Pedralbes The painting portrays Isaac, naked in the centre, at the moment when he is about to be sacrificed by his father Abraham, who is held back by the angel. The figures have a great intensity and individuality, much use is being made of their different poses. Thus Abraham is shown with his body tensed and his face contorted, in the arm holding the knife, we can see the force required to hold it back. Isaac, on the contrary, is shown as having fainted, his body limp and heavy, falling onto his father. The group is well integrated and the volumes are modelled from by contrasts of light and shade. The palette of earth tones, browns and reds is also characteristic of Piazzetta. ## Related artworks - [A Young Ensign]() - [Assumption of the Virgin]() - [Beggar Boy]() - [Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves]() - [Idyll at the Coast]() - [Judith and Holofernes]() - [Martyrdom of St James]() - [Martyrdom of St James]() - [Mucius Scaevola before King Porsenna]() - [Peasant Girl]() - [Rebecca at the Well]() - [Shepherd Boy]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()