The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Melchizedek Blessing Abraham

1825

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

(German, 1794–1872)
Germany
pen and brown ink mounted on blue laid paper
Sheet: 21.3 x 25.7 cm (8 3/8 x 10 1/8 in.); Secondary Support: 42.2 x 41.9 cm (16 5/8 x 16 1/2 in.)
Alma Kroeger Fund 2025.130
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The Picture Bible, the series to which this drawing belongs, was originally a group project conceived by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld and the Nazarenes, but he took over execution of the project around 1824.

Description

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld was an important figure within the Romantic movement that spread throughout Germany in the early 1800s. He was a member of the Nazarenes, a loosely formed group of young artists who rejected their conservative training in favor of a restrained style that they hoped would spiritually elevate those who viewed it. Schnorr von Carolsfeld is best known today for the Picture Bible, an expansive series of drawings created as illustrations for episodes from scripture. This drawing presents a scene from the Book of Genesis, evoking a dramatic episode with a restrained style characteristic of the Nazarenes’ work around this time.
  • December 1968
    Sammlung MW"; sale, Karl & Faber, Munich, Germany
    1970
    C .G. Boerner, Dusseldorf, Germany
    1972
    C.G. Boerner, Dusseldorf, Germany
    Private Collection, Germany
    May 23, 2016
    sale, Lempertz, Cologne, Germany
    ?–?
    Private Collection, Los Angeles, CA
    ?–2025
    (C. G. Boerner, New York, NY, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
    June 9, 2025–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Melchizedek Blessing Abraham|url=false|author=Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld|year=1825|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.130