Abraham Casting Out Hagar
1603
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1603
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Abraham Casting Out Hagar is a 1603 ink by Jacob Matham, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows a man in old-fashioned clothes pushing a woman and a child away from a ramshackle wooden house. The house looks half-collapsed, with a leaning ladder and tools scattered around. A donkey stands nearby, and the background has a fence, a tree, and distant hills—all drawn with sharp, dark lines. The woman clutches her face, while the man points firmly toward the wilderness. The scene feels tense, with every detail carved into the paper. The artist used tiny lines to build up shadows and textures, like the rough bark of the tree or the folds in the clothes. Next, check out engraving to see how artists like this one create depth with just lines.
