A fine impression of one of Rembrandt's most famous prints, "Abraham's sacrifice", illustrating Genesis 22: 10-12, where Abraham, after god ordered him to sacrifice his only son Isaac, raises his knife to do so but is stayed by an angel who reveals that it was only a test of his obedience to god. In the Bible, the angel merely speaks to Abraham, but Rembrandt made the scene much more intimate, with the angel reaching around Abraham from behind almost in an embrace, holding his left arm (with the knife), just above the elbow and his right arm (holding Isaac's head) near the wrist. The Dutch States Bible of 1637 does place the angel behind Abraham, but still only speaking to him. Rembrandt made the etching in 1655 and no variant states are known. It differs greatly from his 1635 painting of the same subject, where the figures are not so closely united and neither Abraham nor the angel expresses such tenderness. The present example of the etching retains the finest lines very clearly (for example, in the background along the edge of the angel's left wing, between the highest point of the wing and the top of Abraham's head) and shows considerable burr, giving the scene a powerful richness and contrast.
The etching has two collectors' stamps on the back: those of Count Johann Nepomuk Ernst Harrach (1756-1829) and Senator Johann Karl Brönner (1738-1812). The etching came into the hands of the Dutch Dreesmann family (art collectors and founders in 1887 of the Vroom & Dreesmann department stores) who gave it to the Van Ravesteijn family before 1982 for services rendered. With minor foxing, but otherwise in fine condition. A fine example of one of Rembrandt's most famous etchings. Hind 283; Laurentius, Rembrandts etchings 19; New Hollstein, Rembrandt 287; Perlove & Silver, Rembrandts faith, pp. 86-92; White & Boon, B35.