Hagar and the Angel
ca. 1657
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
41 3/4 x 54 in. (106 x 137.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Anna Mont, in memory of Frederick Mont, 2010
Accession Number
2012.100.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the European Paintings department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Francesco Maffei's *Hagar and the Angel (ca. 1657) captivates with its dramatic biblical narrative from the Book of Genesis. The Venetian Baroque artist depicts the outcast servant Hagar, fleeing into the wilderness with her son Ishmael, where an angel appears at a spring to comfort her and promise divine protection Maffei, active in 17th-century Italy and influenced by masters like Veronese, infuses the scene with emotional intensity, highlighting themes of faith, exile, and maternal resilience—resonating in an era of reli...