Abraham

The Company of Jesus commissioned from Vasari a cycle of frescoes for their own oratory in Cortona. (This oratory is now part of the Museo Diocesano.) The cycle, seen in the twelve lunettes on the walls, was intended to show the sacrifices offered by characters of the Old Testament, one on each wall. The cycle ends with the representation on the vault of three episodes from the New Testament, connecting the theme of the transition from the Old to the New Testament.

Vasari, as he himself tells us, had his student Doceno (Cristoforo Gherardi) execute these frescoes and he limited his own work to some sketching, touching up. Vasari handed the frescoes over to the Company of Jesus on December 13, 1555.

This picture shows one of the sacrificing figures, Abraham.