After a ten-month tour on loan to top exhibitions in Milan and Forlì, Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Sacrifice of Isaac has returned to Florence’s Uffizi Galleries.
Imbued with the Tuscan artist’s dogged realism, the 1603 painting depicts the dramatic moment when Abraham, about to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command, is stayed by an angel who offers him a ram in Isaac’s place.
In a press release, director of the Uffizi Galleries Eike Schmidt commented, “The masterpiece will remain on display here at the Uffizi. In recent decades, Michelangelo Merisi’s work has acquired a leading role to the extent that this painting has become one of the artworks most identified with our museum. Which is why procedures have been enabled to include The Sacrifice of Isaac on the unmovable art list.”
The painting is on show in Room 91 next to the hall showcasing Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes and Guido Reni’s David and Goliath.