19/05/2020 Abraham the Patriarch: Christian Interpretations and Art

Abraham the Patriarch: The Iconography

GENESIS 12-25

Abraham appears in a number of common

narrative types. The meeting of Abraham and
Melchizedek was popular because it was said
to foreshadow the Eucharist. The Melchizedek
mosaic in Sant'Apollinare in Clase associates
Melchizedek's sacrifice with those of Abel and
Abraham, all of them being types of Christ's
sacrifice, of which the Eucharist is the
memorial.

Another type is the "Hospitality of Abraham" –

when he was visited by three men who were
Detail from a 4th-century
taken by Christians to be God himself in the sarcophagus with the Sacrifice of
Isaac (See description page)
Trinity (see the page for the Trinity).

Another narrative type with Eucharistic import

is the Sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham's response to
God's demand that he sacrifice his son, which
was taken to be a foreshadowing of the
sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Abraham's
sacrifice is illustrated in the first two pictures
on the right and provides the elements for the
portrait of Abraham in the first picture at
11th-century capital in Conques,
right: Isaac himself, the sword, and the fire France (See description page)
used for the sacrifice.

Even as early as the beginning of the 3rd

century, the art emphasizes the connection
between Abraham's sacrifice and the
remembrance of Christ's sacrifice in the liturgy
(example). In medieval times it continued to
be a major topic in the art (example).

Sarcophagi reliefs of the 4th century tend to

show the sacrifice scene at just the moment
when God stays Abraham's hand (example).
Such scenes are more consistent with the
general tenor of the images on the sarcophagi, Lorenzo
Monaco, Abraham, circa
1408/1410 (See description page)
which emphasize faith, forgiveness, and
salvation. The scenes are often paired with MORE IMAGES
images of the same hand giving the Law to Early 12th century: A
Moses, the two men placed on either side of rare visualization of
the decedent's image (example). Jesus' metaphor of
the "bosom of
Abraham" in the St.
Abraham and Isaac scenes are very common in
Foy West
the 4th century, as in the following sarcophagi: Tympanum.
1350s: Two 14th-
century frescos of the
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Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus, Hospitality of

Palazzo Massimo, Rome Abraham in Pomposa
Abbey.
Sarcophagus of the Two Brothers, Museo
1385-1415: Relief
Pio Cristiano, Rome sculpture of the
Sarcophagus Lid from the Cemetery of Sacrifice of Isaac.
Callixtus, Museo Pio Cristiano, Rome Circa 1489-1515:
Sarcophagus of Agape and Crescentianus, Panel in the ceiling at
Museo Pio Cristiano, Rome Santa Maria dei
Miracoli, Venice.
Double-register Sarcophagus, inventory
18th century: A
31546, Museo Pio Cristiano, Rome painting of
Sarcophagus, inventory 31551, Museo Pio Abraham's
Cristiano, Rome bondwoman Hagar
Sarcophagus of Adelphia, Archeological and their son
Museum, Syracuse, Sicily Ishmael.
1748: Duque
Cornejo's relief of the
Except for some of the images with
angel's message at
Melchizedek, Abraham has a white or gray Mambre.
beard slightly forked at the bottom edge, which 1750: Gian Maria
sometimes reaches as far as mid-chest. Morlaiter, statue of
Abraham.
Prepared in 2014 by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of English,
Augusta University, revised 2015-09-16, 2016-11-17. 1875: Sculptures of
the sacrifices of Abra-
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ham and three other
Old Testament pers-
onages flank the Cru-
cifixion scene in the
altarpiece at Notre-
Dame de Montréal.

BIOGRAPHY

Caxton's "Life of
Abraham"

DATES

In his "Life of
Abraham," Caxton
notes that Abraham's
legend was "read in
the church" on
Quinquagesima
Sunday (the Sunday
before Ash
Wednesday).

ALSO SEE

The 5th-century Old

Testament Mosaics at
Santa Maria
Maggiore include
panels for
Melchizedek's
sacrifice, Abraham
and Lot, the
Hospitality, and the
Sacrifice of Isaac.

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