The oath of Abraham’s servant

Castiglione, Giovanni Benedetto (1609-1664)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

ca. 1650-1659

Height:

56.0 cm  (22 1/16 in.)

Width:

78.4 cm  (30 7/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Additional titles

Description

A cittern leans against a chest amid other paraphernalia of the journey. The patriarch sits on a horse as final preparations are made for the journey.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Cittern [3106] (8 pegs; 6 on the bass side, 2 on the treble side; 2 more on the treble side possibly broken off; diatonic fretting)

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

From the Cleveland Museum website: "This work has long been called Journey of a Patriarch in the belief that the artist intended no specific subject. Recent research by graduate student Tamara Durn of Case Western Reserve University suggests that the painting instead depicts a moment in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Abraham secures a pledge from his servant to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. The servant wears a zamt, a goatskin cap common in North Africa in the 1600s, here dyed an unusual shade of blue, a color associated with faith and trust, symbolizing his sacred oath."

RIdIM record id

2136