Abraham's Sacrifice

While I was looking at different etchings and trying to decide which one to write about next, I continually stumbled upon work by Rembrandt, specifically his work “Abraham’s Sacrifice.” The story of Abraham is that God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice as a test. Because of Abraham’s dedication to God, he went along with the command to kill his son in sacrifice but God sent an angel to stop him after seeing that Abraham would go through with it. This is a very well-known Biblical story that Rembrandt chose to portray in his etching. The image was completed in etching and drypoint.

I think that this etching has a great deal of significance and meaning. First of all, it is based off of a very pertinent Biblical story. This brings an automatic importance to the etching because of the religious message it sends. The way that the angel is holding his hand over the eyes of the boy shows the protectiveness she feels over him. Abraham’s facial expression depicts both surprise and almost shock that he was about the commit this act. The way the angel is placed looks like she is also protective of Abraham, almost hovering over him.

The values it this etching are what caught my eye the most. The background and even the angel seem to be dark, with Abraham and his son both being in lighter tones. This makes the image of Abraham and his son stand out with the background sort of fading behind them. It is as if nothing else matters at that moment in time. The lines, however, are very precise through out the etching. There is a strong sense of perfection in the image.

Looking at the image from farther away, it is does not look like the image is made up of tiny, intricate lines. However, once the viewer gets closer, each individual line can be seen and it is obvious that they are very distinct. I think this is a great etching. It serves its purpose of portraying a story or message to the viewer through the make up of those tiny lines.

I think my favorite part of this etching is the portrayal of the angel. It seems to me, which may not be the way everyone sees it, that the angel is the protector of all. No matter what, the angel will protect Abraham and his son because he has proved his devotion. I also feel that angels are typically depicted as heavenly and not of this world, but in this etching, I feel that the angel is shone as a realistic figure in this world.