
Sacrifice of Isaac
1634 · Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
An angel grabs Abraham's wrist and the knife is still falling through the air, his hand clamped over the boy's face.
★ 6.7

An angel grabs Abraham's wrist and the knife is still falling through the air, his hand clamped over the boy's face.

Isaac is shouting under his father's hand and the ram has already arrived at the right. Caravaggio gives the scene no ceremony whatsoever.

The angel comes down to stop the knife, in the deep reds and blues Chagall used for his late cycle of biblical paintings.