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Rembrandt<break strength="x-strong"/> Abraham and Isaac, 1645<break strength="x-strong"/> Etching and engraving 157 x 130 millimeters<break strength="x-strong"/> Single state<break strength="x-strong"/> An extraordinary and “extravagant” painter, Rembrandt was the author of hundreds of prints that immediately achieved great success and marked a decisive turning point in the development of graphics. Rembrandt approached art printing around 1626 with a series of etchings inspired by the Life of Christ, which would be followed, a few years later, by a long series of portraits and self-portraits, occasionally interspersed with stories from the Bible or mythology. Towards the end of the 1630s, Rembrandt immersed himself increasingly in the world of the Holy Scriptures and created works that responded to his inner need to question himself about destiny and salvation. A declared interest emerges for a more introspective reading of his characters in which the composition, at times, is reduced to just two protagonists: Abraham caresses and Isaac (1638), Christ and the Samaritan woman (1640). In Abraham and Isaac, dated 1645, Rembrandt chooses to represent the moment of the (painful) dialogue between father and son, which preludes the extreme sacrifice of the young man. The Dutch artist abolishes any landscape insert. He prefers a more intimate setting to the large scenic backdrops of his contemporaries. Abraham bows his head slightly, rests his right hand on his son's chest as a sign of fidelity and submission to the Lord, with the other he points to the sky and becomes an obedient interpreter of the inscrutable divine will; Isaac listens trustingly to his father's words and carries with him the bundle of firewood for the sacrifice of the lamb on Mount Moriah. What Rembrandt shows us is a drama in its infancy, partially suggested by the knife worn by Abraham and the wood carried by the boy. It is a drama marked by unawareness: Abraham does not know that an angel sent by the Lord will prevent the death of his son, just as Isaac is unaware of being the object of the sacrifice. In the intimate conversation between father and son, Rembrandt stages the awareness of absolute faith and hope that Abraham and Isaac have in God. A God “who provides” – preventing the death of the young man – and seals the pact with humanity by blessing Abraham, his descendants and “all the nations of the earth”.