Akeidat Yitzchak in Art/0/en

Akeidat Yitzchak in Art

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Overview

It is not surprising that Akeidat Yitzchak, a story replete with religious significance, emotional turmoil, and dramatic appeal is a favorite subject among artists.  The three renderings shown here, the painting by Caravaggio,¹ the mosaic from the Beit Alfa Synagogue² and the work by of Paolo Veronese³ all depict the climax of the story, when Avraham's sacrifice is interrupted by the angel.  The paintings evoke very different emotions in the viewer as the artists differ greatly in their portrayals of each of the main characters, including Avraham, Yitzchak, the angel and ram.

Contrasting Images

Carravagio

Carravagio's painting is the most graphic of the three, filled with both pathos and horror.

Beit Alfa Mosaic

Veronese

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

Yitzchak's Age

While the mosaic depicts Yitzchak as a young child, Caravaggio renders him as a teenager and Veronese portrays him as a young adult.  Which is closer to the Biblical text? The episode is not dated making it impossible to know with certainty.  The opening of the chapter, "וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה" might connect it to the previous one in which Yitzchak is born and weaned, setting Yitzchak as little more than a toddler in our story.  Others⁴ prefer to connect the story to that which follows, the death of Sarah, making Yitzchak thirty seven.  Ibn EzraBereshit First Commentary 22:6About R. Avraham ibn Ezra takes a middle position, suggesting that he was a teenager.⁵  The ramifications of the different suggestions are significant.  Was Yitzchak an active partner in the test?  How aware was he of what was taking place?  Could he resist?

The Altar

The altar in the mosaic is a fairly simple structure, sharply contrasting with the shrine painted by Veronese. Did Avraham build his altar in a previously unknown site, or was Mt. Moriah a place which had a pre-existing history of sacrificial worship, and perhaps even an entire sanctuary? Rambam, following Chazal, suggests that the altar "built" by Avraham was the same one used before by Adam, Kayin and Hevel and Noach (and later became the site of the Mikdash).  The site had holiness from the very beginning of creation. See Choice of Yerushalayim for how this suggestion plays into different understandings of why Yerushalayim was chosen as David's capital city.

Yitzchak: what was he feeling? Caravaggio's Yitzchak is a mask of horror.

The Binding of Isaac?

¹ Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 – 1610) was an Italian artist, known for his dramatic use of lighting (chiaroscuro).  He had a major influence on other Baroque painters.  The painting is currently housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

² Beit Alfa is a sixth-century synagogue located near Beit She'an in Israel. Its mosaic of the akeidah is the earliest representation of the subject found in Israel. One of the Greek inscriptions in the synagogue names Marianos and his son Chanina as the artists.  The mosaic contains Jewish, pagan, and Christian influences.

³ Paolo Veronese, or, Paolo Caliari (1528–1588), was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, known for his use of color and brushwork.  The painting can be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Austria.

⁴ See Seder Olam Rabbah.

⁵ He rejects the toddler position due to the fact that Yitzchak carries the wood for the sacrifice, and opposes the adult position since if Yitzchak had been a knowing sacrifice, he should have been the one rewarded rather than Avraham.