"The Angel Stopping Abraham from Sacrificing Isaac"

Rembrandt- 1635

Oil on canvas, 193 x 132 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

This is the master's largest painting from the 1630s. Rembrandt arrested the moment when the angel pins Abraham's arm who wants to sacrifice his son to God. The surprised Abraham drops his knife.

The painting is based closely on a grisaille of 1612 by his master Pieter Lastman. The vertical composition, the setting, the types and placing of the figures are very close to each other.

A second version from 1636 - perhaps the work of a coworker - is in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.