Abraham banishes Hagar and Ishmael by Sir Godfrey Kneller|John Smibert
Abraham Banishes Hagar and Ishmael by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1670. Kneller was England's leading portraitist, he painted Charles II and Isaac Newton. Here he turned to a biblical story of exile. Now at the Alte Pinakothek.
Look for the dog gazing up at Abraham, a witness to the family's fracture. The boy's bow signals Ishmael's prophesied future, yet here he is simply a child being sent away. Hagar's water vessel speaks to the hardship of exile.
Kneller was twenty-four. He had not yet become court painter. The Baroque chiaroscuro would serve his royal portraits for decades. The canvas carries two names, Kneller and John Smibert, his future student, a rare collaborative trace. Yet this biblical scene remains an outlier in a career of powerful faces.
A painter of kings and scientists turning his brush to a father and son.
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Transcript
Kneller painted Charles II, Newton, and every face of power. Abraham's hand: a command to leave. Hagar holds a water vessel. Her provision for exile. Ishmael. A child. A bow at his feet. Even the dog looks up at Abraham. The bow. The Bible says Ishmael would father a great nation.