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Hospitality of Abraham
(Byzantium and Early Russia)
This majestic painting was created for a large iconostasis, a screen separating the altar sanctuary from the nave in Orthodox churches. Here, Abraham and Sarah sacrifice a calf to honor their guests, who reveal themselves as angels (Genesis 18:1-10). Christian theologians interpreted the three angels as Old Testament precursors of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so the icon is inscribed "The Holy Trinity". The meal that the angels bless mirrors the sacrament of the Lord's Supper celebrated behind the iconostasis during the Divine Liturgy.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Alexandre Polovtsoff (Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Polovtsov), Paris, by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1922, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2017-2018 | Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition: An Empire's Legacy . The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1959-1960 | Russian Art: Icons and Decorative Arts from the Origin to the Twentieth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment | other | |
| 8/1/1939 | Treatment | coated; other |
| 5/1/1942 | Treatment | repaired; loss compensation; coated; other |
| 7/2/1952 | Treatment | cleaned; coated |
| 12/3/1954 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; coated; other |
| 10/30/1959 | Treatment | loss compensation |
| 2/16/1965 | Treatment | loss compensation |
| 9/21/1965 | Examination | examined for exhibition |
| 11/27/2003 | Examination | examined for condition |
| 3/16/2004 | Technical Report | x-ray fluorescence |
| 3/18/2004 | Technical Report | other |
| 8/27/2004 | Treatment | cleaned; loss compensation; coated; other |
Geographies
Russia, Yaroslavl (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 60 13/16 × W: 50 1/8 × D: 2 1/4 in. (154.5 × 127.3 × 5.65 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1922
Location in Museum
Centre Street: Third Floor: Byzantine, Russian, and Ethiopian Icons
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1185