The Sacrifice of Isaac

Francesco Guardi’s ‘The Sacrifice of Isaac’ dates to the 1750s. Oil on canvas. The painting is held at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Guardi is better known for his vedute, but this is a religious piece.

The painting shows a dramatic moment from the biblical story of the Sacrifice of Isaac. It’s a rare example of Guardi’s work on religious themes, rather than the Venetian cityscapes for which he is often remembered.

Francesco Guardi collaborated with his brother Gian Antonio on religious paintings early in his career. After Gian Antonio’s death in 1760, he focused on vedute, adopting a looser style over time.

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.235.1

https://oolf.net/open-art/guardi-the-sacrifice-of-isaac-1750/