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The Angels Appearing to Abraham
About the Artwork
After their initial meeting, Abraham graciously offered to feed the angels and wash their feet. Following the meal, they announce that his wife Sarah, long past child-bearing age, will soon have a son, fulfilling a promise God had made earlier to Abraham. The artist presents the moment of revelation, the angels resplendent in their pastel gowns and feathery wings, with Sarah learning the news while hiding behind their cottage door.
Provenance
Until 1800: Possibly Federigo Giovanelli, Venice ?: Baroness Valerie Groedel, Budapest By 1933?: (Neumann Gallery, Vienna) 1952: (Francesco Pospisil, Venice, sold through Alessandro Brass to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1952-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
The Allure of La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK (organizer) (September 9, 2010-January 2, 2011).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Francesco Guardi (Italian, 1712–1793)
- Date
- 1750s
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 71 x 90.5 x 7 cm (27 15/16 x 35 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 56.5 x 75.5 cm (22 1/4 x 29 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1952.235.3
More by Francesco Guardi in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009591
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