# The Sacrifice of Isaac

**Andrea del Sarto** (Italian, 1486–1530)  
c. 1527  
oil on wood  
Framed: 208 x 171 x 12.5 cm (81 7/8 x 67 5/16 x 4 15/16 in.); Unframed: 178 x 138 cm (70 1/16 x 54 5/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1937.577. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1937.577).

## About this work

In this dramatic test of faith from the Old Testament book of Genesis, Abraham agrees to slay his son Isaac on God’s command. As Abraham raises the knife, an angel suddenly appears to halt the sacrifice. This work gains its power from the complex expressions of father and son, combining grief, strength, resignation, fear, and realization in their faces and bodies, the latter inspired by ancient sculpture and Michelangelo. Andrea del Sarto never finished this painting, and it lays bare his working methods. He transferred the design to the panel from a drawing, reinforcing the chalk with painted lines—best seen in the donkey at the far right. He then worked over the whole panel at once with thin, brushy veils of color, letting him alter the composition while painting—especially evident in the angel, Isaac’s body, and Abraham’s head.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Andrea del Sarto painted this in about 1527, aged about 36. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Andrea del Sarto](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/andrea-del-sarto)

Italian, 1486–1530; born in Florence; died in Florence

Andrea del Sarto, the son of a tailor, or sarto, spent almost his whole career in Florence and became its leading painter after Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael had left. His frescoes at the Santissima Annunziata and the grisaille cycle in the Chiostro dello Scalzo show his soft modelling and harmonious colour. He worked briefly for Francis I in France in 1518–19. Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino trained with him, and Vasari, his pupil, wrote his life.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy, Florence
- The artist was about 36
- Real size: about 70 × 54 in (178 × 138 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 16th century
- Movement: [Renaissance](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/renaissance)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/533.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/533/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-sacrifice-of-isaac-cma-117032).