Three Angels visit Abraham
- Object:
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Clear and coloured glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain.
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Sacred Silver & Stained Glass, room 83, case S1
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Abraham was the first of the patriarchs of the Old Testament and the founder of the Hebrew nation.
The events concerning Abraham took place around 2000 BC. He was married to Sarah, who was unable to conceive a child. One day on the plains of Mamre, Abraham and Sarah were visited by three strangers. Abraham offered them food and drink, as was customary in the Jewish faith. They revealed themselves as angels and said that they brought a message from God that Sarah would become pregnant. She did, and in time gave birth to Isaac. In medieval art the three angels were interpreted as a symbol of the Trinity. Their announcement was viewed as a prefigurement of the Annunciation of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.
Physical description
Three angels are seated at a table on which are a flagon and a bowl. In the background are trees and buildings. The panel is painted in black, silver-yellow and brown enamel.
Place of Origin
Normandy, France (made)
Date
ca. 1530-ca. 1540 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Clear and coloured glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain.
Dimensions
Height: 61.3 cm sight, Width: 67.3 cm sight
Object history note
Formerly in Craven Cottage in Fulham, now destroyed.
Bought from B. Jarvis.
Descriptive line
Panel of clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain. Depicting Abraham and the Three Angels. Made in France, probably in a workshop in Rouen, Normandy, c.1530-40.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
T. Faulkner, Historical Account of Fulham, 1813, p.434
Bulletin des Amis des Monuments Rouennais, August 1977
Labels and date
THREE ANGELS VISIT ABRAHAM
The scene appears to show the visit of the three angels to Abraham in the valley of Mambre, as recounted in Genesis 18, when Abraham 'laid their meal ready, and stood there beside them in the shade of the trees'. Abraham would presumably have been depicted to the right, possibly with his wife Sara, receiving the news that she was to bear a child. The original location of this panel is not certain, although it was acquired at the same time as two panels on the opposite wall which come from the church of Saint-Nicolas-le-Painteur in Rouen.
France (Normandy), about 1530-40
Museum no. 70-1899 [(PW) 2003]
Materials
Glass
Techniques
Painting; Silver staining; Pot metal
Categories
Religion; Christianity; Stained Glass
Collection code
CER
