Hagar in the Wilderness

Hagar in the Wilderness is partly an exercise in dramatic tonal contrast, with the light cutting across the arid landscape dividing the whole canvas in two. At the same time, the biblical themes and motifs, and the stylized postures of the characters, suggest the abiding influence of Neoclassical landscape painting. Corot's academic training had instilled in him a Neoclassicist's appreciation for religious and mythological landscapes, and also a sense of the moralistic narrative function of painting.

Displayed at the Salon of 1835, Hagar in the Wilderness was praised for its originality and display of technical skill, earning Corot instant fame and wealth. It thus represents the moment in his career when he acquired the sudden status of a Salon painter, a status which would remain with him even as his work became more naturalistic and non-academic in theme and composition.

In this painting, Corot depicts a scene from the Old Testament's Book of Genesis. Hagar was the servant of Abraham, whose wife Sarah was unable to conceive. Wanting a child, Abraham had a son with Hagar, only for Sarah to bear him a child of her own, Isaac. Jealous, Sarah banishes Hagar and her son Ishmael to the Beersheba Desert, where they almost die of thirst, only to be saved by an angel at a spring. Corot depicts the moment of Hagar's final breakdown; as the angel approaches in the distance, she beseeches God to pity her.

This painting is an oil on canvas. It is housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York