Artwork Page for The Oath of Abraham’s Servant

Details / Information for The Oath of Abraham’s Servant

The Oath of Abraham’s Servant

c. 1650–59

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

(Italian, 1609–1664)
Culture
Italy, 17th century
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 71.2 x 94 x 9 cm (28 1/16 x 37 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 56 x 78.4 cm (22 1/16 x 30 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1969.1
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

The musical instrument at the left symbolizes love, foreshadowing the wedding the servant pledges to facilitate.

Description

This work has long been called Journey of a Patriarch in the belief that the artist intended no specific subject. The painting instead depicts a moment in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Abraham secures a pledge from his servant to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. The servant wears a zamt, a goatskin cap common in North Africa in the 1600s, here dyed an unusual shade of blue, a color associated with faith and trust, symbolizing his sacred oath.
A horizontally oriented oil painting is crowded with figures and animals. At the center, an older man with a white beard sits atop a white horse, wearing a purple robe and yellow turban. He points down at a kneeling man in a striped tunic. In the foreground sit an urn, lute, and trunk. To our right, sheep and goats gather near a youth. A caravan recedes into the distance at left.

The Oath of Abraham’s Servant

c. 1650–59

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

(Italian, 1609–1664)
Italy, 17th century

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