# The Sacrifice of Isaac

**Francesco Guardi** (Italian, 1712–1793)  
1750s  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 71 x 90.5 x 5.5 cm (27 15/16 x 35 5/8 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 56.5 x 75.5 cm (22 1/4 x 29 3/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952.235.1. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1952.235.1).

## About this work

This series of paintings primarily tells the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) story of Abraham and Isaac, and each of the canvases depicts the interaction of humans and angels. In three works, angels appear to Abraham, and in one particularly dramatic canvas, an angel intercepts Abraham before he sacrifices his own son. Like another work in this series, Tobias and the Angels, the Sacrifice of Isaac is a narrative about fathers and sons as well as obedience inspired by faith.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Francesco Guardi painted this in the 1750s, aged about 38. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **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.

### [Francesco Guardi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/francesco-guardi)

Italian, 1712–1793; born in Venice; died in Venice

Guardi worked for years in the family studio in Venice led by his elder brother Gianantonio, producing altarpieces and figure paintings, and became chiefly a painter of city views, especially after his brother’s death in 1760. Where Canaletto is crisp and exact, Guardi’s views and imaginary capricci are loose and flickering, with dissolving buildings and shimmering water. He also recorded the public ceremonies of the last decades of the Venetian Republic.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Italy
- The artist was about 38
- Real size: about 22 × 30 in (57 × 76 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- 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/596.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/596/1920.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
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- 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

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-129802).