Artwork
Summer (with Sacrifice of Isaac)
Summer (with Sacrifice of Isaac) is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Francesco Bassano the Younger. It dates from 1575 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a summer scene in which a shepherd shears sheep beside a river, while in the background a sacrificial offering of a lamb is prepared on an altar. The juxtaposition of pastoral abundance with the biblical Sacrifice of Isaac introduces a layered iconography: the foreground evokes the prosperity of summer through labor and animal husbandry, while the distant altar alludes to Abraham's test of faith. The lamb, central to both the shearing and the sacrifice, functions as a symbolic bridge between worldly sustenance and sacred narrative, suggesting themes of providence and divine favor within the cycle of nature.
Technique & Style
Francesco Bassano the Younger executed Summer (with Sacrifice of Isaac) in oil paint on canvas. Measuring 78.5 by 110.5 cm, the 1575 painting belongs to the religious genre. Stylistically, the composition merges a biblical narrative, the Sacrifice of Isaac, with pastoral elements, depicting shepherds engaged in sheep shearing alongside ovine subjects to represent the season of summer.
History & Provenance
Its first recorded ownership is with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, and it later entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains today.
The painting Summer (with Sacrifice of Isaac) was created in 1575 by Francesco Bassano the Younger as an oil on canvas work. Its first recorded ownership is with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, and it later entered the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains today. The composition illustrates the biblical scene of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac, a subject tied to themes of summer and divine testing.
The artwork measures 78.5 cm in height and 110.5 cm in width. It is cataloged under the museum's inventory system with no publicly listed accession number provided in the sources.
Overview
Created in 1575, this oil on canvas by Francesco Bassano the Younger presents a bustling summer landscape. The composition merges everyday rural labor, sheep shearing, hay transport, and field work, with a discreet biblical reference, offering a layered view of seasonal activity and religious narrative.
Context
The painting belongs to a series of seasonal allegories popular in late‑16th‑century Italy, where pastoral scenes often incorporated biblical or mythological episodes. By embedding the sacrifice of Isaac within a summer tableau, Bassano aligns the natural cycle of harvest with themes of obedience and divine providence.
Artist & collection
Artist
Francesco Bassano the Younger (Italian: Francesco Bassano il Giovane; 26 January 1549 – 4 July 1592), also called Francesco Giambattista da Ponte or Francesco da Ponte the Younger, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period.
