The Angels Appearing to Abraham (1750s): Art, History and Details

The Angels Appearing to Abraham (1750s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

After their initial meeting, Abraham graciously offered to feed the angels and wash their feet. Following the meal, they announce that his wife Sarah, long past child-bearing age, will soon have a son, fulfilling a promise God had made earlier to Abraham. The artist presents the moment of revelation, the angels resplendent in their pastel gowns and feathery wings, with Sarah learning the news while hiding behind their cottage door.

Object facts

• Title: The Angels Appearing to Abraham
• Date: 1750s
• Creator attribution: Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 71 x 90.5 x 7 cm (27 15/16 x 35 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 56.5 x 75.5 cm (22 1/4 x 29 3/4 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1952.235.3

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Binion, Alice. Antonio and Francesco Guardi, Their Life and Milieu: With a Catalogue of Their Figure Drawings. New York: Garland Pub, 1976.
• Pallucchini, Rodolfo. L'arte di Giovanni Battista Piazzetta. Bologna: Giuseppe Maylender, editore, 1934.
• Levey, Michael. The Eighteenth-Century Italian Schools. London: Publications Dept., National Gallery, 1956.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.