Hagar's Departure, from Six Landscape Subjects from the Old Testament
1650/60
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
29.2 × 24.6 cm (11 1/2 × 9 11/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
127526
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Similar to Antoni Waterlo’s Elias in the Wilderness from the same series, this etching displays the artist’s excellent handling of landscapes. The trees not only enclose the composition, but also help guide the viewer to the biblical scene tucked inside them. Hagar and her son, Ishmael, are cast out into the wilderness by Ishmael’s own father, Abraham. Shown extending his arm, Abraham sends the mother and child to their fate with nothing but some bread and water.
About the Artist
Anthonie Waterloo · 1609–1690
Anthonie Waterloo (1609–1690) was a prominent Dutch Golden Age landscape artist, born on May 6 in Lille, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. Little is known of his early life beyond his mother, Magdalena Vaillant, who joined Amsterdam's Walloon Church in 1621, with Waterloo following in 1630; no records exist of formal training, and he was likely self-taught. Registered as a painter in Amsterdam...