Gaspard Dughet, 'Landscape with Abraham and Isaac', about 1665

In the Book of Genesis, God orders Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah (near Jerusalem). This painting shows them walking on a path towards woodland on the third day of their journey as they approach the place of sacrifice. Isaac struggles under the weight of the wooden log on which he will unknowingly be sacrificed, and Abraham follows him holding a burning torch. In a later episode, an angel appears to Abraham and convinces him to slay a lamb caught in a nearby bush rather than his son.

This sombre story is set in a tranquil landscape. While the background is bathed in the soft light of sunrise, most of the foreground is in deep shadow. Areas of dappled light create subtle variations in the green and yellow tones, suggesting the different types of plant and tree. The trees to the left and right and the sloping foreground frame the scene and draw our eye into the distance. A small town in the valley below and the sea in the distance are inspired by views of the countryside around Rome, where Dughet spent most of his career. In the centre of the painting are two reclining figures deep in conversion, apparently oblivious to the momentous event that is unfolding.

This painting was probably purchased during the mid-1650s by Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna, one of Dughet’s most important patrons. By the early nineteenth century, it had entered the prestigious collection of John Julius Angerstein, and it was among the first works to be purchased from his collection for the National Gallery in 1824.