Sacrifice of Isaac

As the “Sacrifice of Abraham, by the Pisan Orazio”, this painting is mentioned in a 1631 inventory of paintings found in the gallery of the Palazzo Mattei. The decoration of the palace at the commission of Annibale Mattei in 1624-26 was the last great Roman project to be given to painters who were all, to varying degree, connected to the Caravaggesque experience. The painting, attributable with certainty to Riminaldi and most likely datable to around 1625, is a precious document, considering the rarity of surviving works by this artist. As such, it is a firm point in the reconstruction of Riminaldi’s stylistic development.

After an initial attachment to Gentileschi and Manfredi, Riminaldi gravitated more towards artists in the French ambient, especially Vouet. He also exhibited a growing interest in the early Baroque experiments of Lanfranco. This painting reveals the artist’s synthesis and passage between his own most influential sources; the art of Manfredi and that of Lanfranco. The total absence of violence or horror in this scene reflects Riminaldi’s tendency to “ennoble” the Caravaggesque and Manfredian elements; currents typical to the naturalistic painting of Tuscany and clearly identifiable in Riminaldi’s work.

An autograph replica of this painting was recently on the Swiss antiquarian market.