Abrahám medzi anjelmi

The Old Testament story about three angels who appear to Abraham is the theme of this work. Abraham recognized them and received them as his guests. They revealed a prophesy to him which eventually came true; his wife Sara gave birth to their son Isaac, although both of them were very old.

Three angels, diagonally lined up, turn in various poses to the old man whose hands are clasped in prayer as he hears the news with open mouth. We can see the head of old Sara behind him. Thanks to the suggested motions of the characters, the artist created the illusion of extraordinary space. This dramatic scene with exaggerated gestures of the characters is situated in a slightly articulated natural environment where only the structure pointed out by the angel stands out.

This painting is definitely related to a product of Guercino’s workshop, but it is not the work of the master himself despite an earlier opinion which was rejected. Guercino complied with the commission in which he was supposed to depict the
Expulsion of Hagar and Ismael. This painting still exists and can be found in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. Abraham is depicted differently in these paintings. The painting, Jacob Receiving Joseph’s Blood Stained Cloak from His Sons by Carlo Bononi (1569–1632) of Ferrarra, who was in a close contact with Guercino, looks most like the figure in the Bratislava painting.

Guercino was a prodigious painter. He had a large workshop where members of the artistic Gennari family painted under him. They occasionally cooperated in less important commissions. Abraham and the Three Angels is closest to the work of Lorenzo Gennari.

Zuzana Ludiková ● LUDIKOVÁ, Zuzana - BURAN, Dušan. Talianska maľba = Italian Painting. Bratislava : Slovenská národná galéria, 2013. 242 strán. ISBN 9788080591748.