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This work has long been called Journey of a Patriarch in the belief that the artist intended no specific subject. Recent research by graduate student Tamara Durn of Case Western Reserve University suggests that the painting instead depicts a moment in the Old Testament book of Genesis. Abraham secures a pledge from his servant to find a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. The servant wears a zamt, a goatskin cap common in North Africa in the 1600s, here dyed an unusual shade of blue, a color associated with faith and trust, symbolizing his sacred oath.

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Details

  • Title: The Oath of Abraham’s Servant
  • Creator: Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Italian, 1609-1664)
  • Date Created: c. 1650-1659
  • Physical Dimensions: Framed: 71.2 x 94 x 9 cm (28 1/16 x 37 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 56 x 78.4 cm (22 1/16 x 30 7/8 in.)
  • Provenance: [Pinakos, New York], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.1
  • Medium: oil on canvas
  • Department: European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: Italy, 17th century
  • Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
  • Collection: P - Italian 16th & 17th Century
  • Accession Number: 1969.1

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