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The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek Thumbnail
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The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek

Giorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574) (Artist)
ca. 1545 (Renaissance)
oil and tempera on panel
(Renaissance Europe )

Vasari may have painted this biblical scene as well as three others (Walters 37.1177, 37.1705, 37.1704) in brown monochrome as a study for related compositions in a series of 18 larger, multicolor panels representing the correspondences between the Old and New Testaments made in 1545-1546 for the sacristy of the church of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples. Vasari's skill with the pen comes out in the preliminary drawings, visible in The Fall of Manna, to which he added layers of paint with his brush and fingers.

These particular subjects relate to the establishment of the Holy Eucharist (Communion), when the priest at the altar symbolically re-enacts the sacrifice of Christ. This episode from Genesis foreshadows Christ's sacrifice or the role of bread as sustenance and as an offering. Abraham returns from battle having freed his brother from the enemy and is met by the high priest Melchizedek, who offers him bread and wine.

Inscription

[Signature] G.V.; [Date] 1561

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1897 catalogue: no. 238, as Polidoro da Carabaggio]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Exhibitions

1971-1972 World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1961 Bacchiacca and his Friends. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.
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Geographies

Italy, Florence (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Painted surface H: 12 5/8 x W: 33 9/16 x D excluding cradle: 3/8 in. (32.1 x 85.2 x 1 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902

Location in Museum

Charles Street: Third Floor: 16th-Century Italian Art

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

37.1176

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Related Objects

Image for The Last Supper

The Last Supper

Giorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574)
ca. 1545 (Renaissance)
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Image for The Fall of Manna

The Fall of Manna

Giorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574)
ca. 1545 (Renaissance)
view details
Image for The Sacrifice of Isaac

The Sacrifice of Isaac

Giorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574)
ca. 1545 (Renaissance)
view details

Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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