Gioacchino Assereto, 'The Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael', about 1640
About the work
Overview
A woman seated in a landscape is startled by the sudden appearance of an angel, who points to heaven while gesturing towards a sleeping boy in the distance. This is the angel appearing to Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant to Sara, wife of Abraham, as told in the Old Testament. Hagar bore Abraham a son, Ishmael, and was subsequently banished to the wilderness. When supplies ran out and Ishmael was on the point of dying an angel appeared, pointing out a water source where they could drink and announcing to Hagar that her son would lead a great nation (the Ishmaelites).
This is a mature work by the Genoese painter Assereto. The picture’s fluid brushwork and strongly naturalistic style are typical of the artist. Assereto’s gesticulating figures and boldly cropped composition lend drama to this biblical scene, while the subdued tones and limited colour range echo the sombre mood demanded by the subject.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Angel appears to Hagar and Ishmael
- Artist
- Gioacchino Assereto
- Artist dates
- 1600 - 1649
- Date made
- about 1640
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 119 × 167 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Trustees of Sir Denis Mahon's Charitable Trust through the Art Fund, 2013
- Inventory number
- NG6621
- Location
- Room 32
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Additional information
This painting is included in a list of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945; for more information see Whereabouts of paintings 1933–1945.
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gabriele Finaldi and Michael Kitson, ‘Discovering the Italian Baroque: The Denis Mahon Collection’ (exh. cat. National Gallery, London, 1997), London 1997 and supplemented by the National Gallery’s Annual Report, ‘The National Gallery: Review of the Year, April 2012 – March 2013’; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1942Thomas Agnew & Sons, Some 17th Century Italian Pictures, London 1942
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1953G. Briganti, 'The Mahon Collection of Seicento Paintings', The Connoisseur, CXXXII, 1953, pp. 4-18
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1956K. Zürich, Unbekannte Schönhei: Bedeutende Werke aus fünf Jahrhunderten (exh. cat. Kunsthaus, 9 June - 31 July 1956), Zürich 1956
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1960E.K. Waterhouse et al., Italian Art and Britain (exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, Winter 1960), London 1960
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1962R.L. Manning and B. Suida Manning, Genoese Masters: Cambiaso to Magnasco, 1550-1750 (exh. cat. Dayton Art Institute, 19 October - 2 December 1962; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5 January - 17 February 1963; Wadsworth Atheneum, 19 March - 5 May 1963), Dayton 1962
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1971G.V. Castelnovi, La pittura a Genova e in Liguria dal Seicento al primo Novecento, Genoa 1971
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1986F.R. Pesenti, La pittura in Liguria. Artisti del primo Seicento, Genoa 1986
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1988P. Pagano and M.C. Galassi, La pittura del '600 a Genova, Milan 1988
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1997G. Finaldi et al., Discovering the Baroque: The Denis Mahon Collection (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 26 February - 18 May 1997), London 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2002G. Finaldi and S. Korman, Baroque Painting in Genoa, (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 13 March - 16 June 2002), London 2002
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2014National Gallery, The National Gallery: Review of the Year, April 2012 - March 2013, London 2014
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.