{"id":37584,"date":"2018-08-12T15:54:29","date_gmt":"2018-08-12T12:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=37584"},"modified":"2022-03-06T17:43:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T15:43:41","slug":"the-akeidah-in-art-4-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-akeidah-in-art-4-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[369],"acf":{"old_id":"37584","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37128,"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","content":"

Sometimes, when there is so much to say, the best path is to say nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The story of the binding of Isaac may be one such case.<\/span><\/p>\n

The narrative is one of the most poignant in any literature, the very notion that an elderly father must raise his hand against his beloved son, one whom he had awaited for more decades than most people live, in whom lay the unactualized promise of myriad descendants, whom he loved dearly, namely, Isaac.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, biblical commentators, theologians, and philosophers throughout the ages have tackled the many burning questions of this story. How could God ask Abraham to do this? How could Abraham be so willing? What did Isaac know about the enterprise — and if he knew about it, was he as passive as the text suggests? Where was Sarah (on the assumption that she would never have let Abraham undertake this sacrifice of her son had she but known about it)? Soren Kierkegaard\u2019s poetic Fear and Trembling (pub. 1843) is a study of the Akedah. The Netziv (R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, 1816-1893) explores the multiple meanings of what it means to be \u201ctested\u201d by the Divine, and the process of refinement that surpasses the not incidental accomplishment of passing God\u2019s test. And the Midrash, particularly Bereishit Rabbah, goes out of its way to blame the Satan — inserting him in conversation with not only Abraham, but also God, to provide some manner of explanation for what otherwise seems incomprehensible.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the underlying truth is incomprehensible and pathos are unbearable, words often fail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the fine arts can capture what cannot be discussed — the powerful emotions that emerge from line and color.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, Rembrandt\u2019s \u201cSacrifice of Isaac\u201d — it hangs in St. Petersburg\u2019s Hermitage in a tucked away corner, and if you round that corner and stand before the 6-foot tall work, you may find that the poignancy of the moment he depicts hits you full force, in no small part because of Rembrandt\u2019s masterful interplay of light and dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And Caravaggio, whose two studies of the scene convey — to this viewer — the mix of Abraham\u2019s hesitation, determination, and consternation. Note also the differences in the three angels of these classical works. And Isaac\u2019s presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAbraham and the Sacrifice of His Son Isaac\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"\"
\nBut it is another work of Rembrandt\u2019s — this time, a small sketch — that best captures what may be most impossible to convey in the biblical text. Housed at Museum Bredius in the Netherlands, \u201cAbraham Taking Isaac to the Sacrificial Altar\u201d shifts the focus from Abraham\u2019s manner of heeding God\u2019s decree to the relationship between Abraham and Isaac — on a path where all that matters passes from father to son and back again without words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The artworks presented here can be found at (listed respectively):<\/p>\n

Rembrandt’s Sacrifice, Hermitage<\/a>
\nCaravaggio I<\/a>
\nCaravaggio II<\/a>
\nRembrandt sketch<\/a><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":37592,"id":37592,"title":"Akedah4-Caravaggio-2","filename":"Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-akeidah-in-art-4-studies\/akedah4-caravaggio-2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"akedah4-caravaggio-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":37584,"date":"2018-08-12 12:52:33","modified":"2022-03-06 15:43:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1279,"height":986,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-300x231.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":231,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-768x592.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":592,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1024x789.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":789,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1279,"1536x1536-height":986,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1279,"2048x2048-height":986,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1200x925.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":925,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-545x420.jpg","home_baner-width":545,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37584"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102697,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37584\/revisions\/102697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}