About

Title of the work: Fragments of a column-statue: the Sacrifice of Isaac
Associated sculptor: Master of the Christophoroi
Dimensions: head of Abraham: Height: 18cm x Width: 15cm x Depth: 14cm
fragment of the sacrifice: Height: 20cm x Width: 17.5cm x Depth: 29cm
Material: limestone

This is a figure from the Old Testament, representing a foundational act for the three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Abraham, tested by God, is asked to offer his son as a sacrifice. At the very last moment, he is told to spare his son and replace him with a ram whose horns have become tangled in a nearby bush. This Binding of Isaac is also called the "Sacrifice of Isaac," even though he is spared.

This foundational narrative makes Abraham the father of all monotheistic religions, from which the rites of lamb sacrifice originate. First present in the Jewish religion in ancient times, they were taken up again in Christian Easter, this time in connection with the sacrifice of Christ.

State of Preservation

Only two pieces of this column-statue remain: the head of Abraham, gazing upwards to the heavens, and the upper torso of Isaac, with one adult hand gripping his hair. It is the gestures of the characters, similar to those found in representations of the Binding of Isaac, that have allowed these two fragments to be connected.

About the Reconstruction Hypothesis

Very early on, the only two remaining fragments of this column-statue were brought together by Léon Pressouyre, convinced that they went together. However, the work is so fragmentary that no metaline reconstruction was proposed by the historian.