Abraham on the way to Canaan

“Abraham on the Way to Canaan” is a painting by the Dutch artist Peter Lastman from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum .

Peter Lastman

Abraham on the way to Canaan . 1614

niderl. God verschijnt aan abram

Canvas, oil. 72 × 122 cm

State Hermitage Museum , St. Petersburg

( inv. GE-8306 )

The picture illustrates the Old Testament plot described in Genesis (12: 4–7): Abraham with his wife Sarah , nephew Lot, and their people arrive in Canaan and hear the Lord’s words: “I will give this land to your seed”.

The picture shows Abraham kneeling, his wife Sarah, in a golden skirt, riding a donkey, and Lot, in a blue shirt, standing next to a donkey, on which a basket with a scroll, a book, a rounded board and an astrolabe is hung, the knife handle is visible in the same . From the upper left corner, due to the trees, they are overshadowed by the rays of divine light. To the left on the stone in front of Abraham in two lines is the signature of the artist and the date: Pietro Lastman / fecit. A °. 1614 . Initially, the painting was painted on wood, but subsequently transferred to the canvas.

According to I. Wittrock, the scroll, book, board, and astrolabe depicted in the picture are allegories and gave the following interpretation: the book is Holy Scripture and symbolizes faith, the same applies to the scroll; a board with rounded corners means the tablet of the Law; astrolabe hints at the astrological-astronomical knowledge of Abraham; the knife is inherently an attribute of sacrifice and recalls the obedience of Abraham, who decided to sacrifice his son ^[1] .

Soviet art critic Yu. I. Kuznetsov in his review of Dutch painting of the 17th century very highly appreciated the painting:

Lastman refuses the pompous language of his predecessors - the picture should be simple, sincere and clear ... The artist tries to combine the landscape and figures, notices lively expressive gestures, introduces a lot of everyday details, carefully executed details into the picture ... According to the artist, this should make the viewer believe in reality depicted event ^[2] .

The image of God's voice in the form of directed rays of divine light for its time was an innovative technique in painting, which had a significant impact on the subsequent historical and religious works of many artists, including the young Rembrandt ^[3] .

As follows from the signature, the picture was painted in 1614, its early history is unknown. In the Hermitage collection, she came in 1792 from the property of Prince G. A. Potemkin-Tauride , who after his death remained in the Winter Palace .

In 1855, the painting was auctioned in St. Petersburg and was consistently in the collections of Volkov, A.V. Korochentsov, S.F. Solovyov. In 1938, through the Leningrad State Procurement Commission, it was acquired by the state and again entered the Hermitage collection ^[4] . The art historian and art historian V.F. Levinson-Lessing wrote in this afflictedly:

If the responsibility for this ridiculous order, as a result of which a number of very good paintings left the Hermitage, lies with Nicholas I , then the responsibility for the very choice of paintings that are neither suitable for the Hermitage nor for palaces lies with Bruni , Basin and Neffa to an even greater extent. It was they who in some cases did not recognize such first-rate things as ... Lastman's “Journey of Abraham”, acquired by the Hermitage in 1938 ^[5] .

The painting is exhibited in the building of the New Hermitage in Hall 252 ^[6] .