HAGAR              

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'Airs and graces, thought Sarah. The former queen-bee of the tribe felt threatened...'

'For a while there was an uneasy truce between the women...'

'Hagar could not bear to watch her son dying'

Sarah had never had a child, so she decided to give Hagar to her husband, to be a surrogate who would have his child. Legally, the child would belong to Sarah and be Abraham's heir, and Hagar could do all the hard work of bearing and looking after the baby.

Everything went to plan, and Hagar became pregnant. But the girl did not know her place, was not as subservient to Sarah as she used to be. Airs and graces, thought Sarah. The former queen-bee of the tribe felt threatened, probably quite frightened of the power this former slave now had. It was not just that she resented the nouvelle. This girl might be carrying the future head of the tribe, and if so she would replace Sarah as chief woman in the tribe. Sarah realized she had lost control of the situation.

We don't know exactly what Sarah did to Hagar - the Bible just says she 'mistreated' her, but the heavily pregnant girl  fled out into the wilderness, apparently trying to return to her family in Egypt. On the way, beside a spring of water, she had some sort of mystical experience. An angel appeared to her, blessed her, and told her to return to Abraham. The angel promised that a great people would arise out of the tiny baby she carried in her womb. 

So Hagar returned to Abraham's house, and had a son whom she named Ishmael. For a while there was an uneasy truce between the two women. The boy grew up, and Abraham circumcised Ishmael when he was thirteen.  

The next year, to the astonishment of everyone, Abraham's aged wife Sarah became pregnant with his second son, Isaac. As soon as she held her longed-for son in her arms the rivalry between the two women flared up again, and quickly became intense.

After a public brawl between the two women, Sarah demanded that Hagar and her young son be expelled from the tribe and cast out into the desert - a virtual death sentence. Abraham provided Hagar and her child - his own son - with bread and a bottle of water and sent them out to their fate. 

They soon ran out of water and began to die. Hagar could not bear to watch her son dying of thirst, so she put him under the only shad she could find and crawled away to die. But again an angel appeared to help her, showing her a spring of water. She and the boy were saved, and lived on in the wilderness of Paran, where Ishmael became an expert in archery. 

Hagar never returned to the tribe. When the time came she arranged that her boy marry an Egyptian woman, not a Hebrew. He had many sons, who in turn founded many tribes that settled in all the area from Assyria to the northern border of Egypt. Hagar is seen as the foremother of the Arab nations.

'..Abraham is virile and handsome. Sarah, on the other hand, is well past her use by date.'

Painter:  Adriaen van der Werff (1659-1722)

Year:  1699

Incident shown:  Sarah offers an uncertain Hagar to her husband Abraham. Any child resulting from their union would legally be Sarah's, since Hagar was her personal slave. On the other hand, if Hagar plays her cards well she may become the favored concubine of the tribal leader, rather than a mere slave.

Bible reference:  Genesis 16:1-3

Information:  Tremendously successful during his lifetime, van der Werff specialized in painting biblical and classical scenes. He did not shy away from introducing a note of eroticism in his paintings, as can be seen in the picture at left. Unlike other painters, he portrayed Abraham as virile and handsome. Sarah, on the other hand, is well past her use-by date.

' Sarah drives her out like a stray dog that has overstayed its welcome.'

Painter: Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Year:  Between 1615 and 1617

Incident shown:  The rich fabric of Sarah's gown and the voluptuous red of Hagar's, says it all. Hagar has power and wealth. Hagar has  youth, sexual allure  and an unborn child. Sarah cannot stand the sight of her, and drives her out like a stray dog that has overstayed its welcome. An ineffectual Abraham stands half-in, half-out of the doorway.

Bible reference:  Genesis 16:5-6

Information:  Rubens excelled at painting voluptuous goddesses and here are two more of them, albeit in the form of biblical heroines. The painting is exuberantly sensuous, with raw passions all too visible. Rubens' luminous colors highlight the emotional energy of the scene portrayed: Sarah's murderous jealousy and Hagar's perplexed, conciliatory response. 

'Tiepolo was an international star, the 18th century equivalent of a modern rock-star.'

Painter:  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Year:  1719

Incident shown:  Tiepolo's beautiful, terrified Hagar begs for mercy, but Abraham is unyielding: she must leave, and leave now. He towers over her prostrate figure, showing us clearly that he is the one with the power and she, despite her beauty and vulnerability, has lost the little influence she once had.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  The background details of the painting seem curiously unsuitable for a nomadic, second millennium BC tribal scene, but they do suggest the wealth and power of Abraham, and the almost divine status of certain biblical figures in Western culture.  
As a painter, Tiepolo was an international star, famous and pampered by the royal courts of Europe, the 18th century equivalent of a modern rock-star.

Painter:  Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

Year:  1640's

Incident shown:  This painting was cut from a larger canvas, so we have only part of the original scene. Is this Hagar's first flight from Sarah, or fourteen years later when she is cast into the desert with her son? I would guess it is the former, since Hagar seems like a young girl in this painting, rather than a mature woman. She is turning to look up at the angel behind her, the positioning of her beautiful hand suggesting that she is taken aback by what she sees.

Bible reference:  Genesis 16:7-12

Information:  van den Eeckhout was another of Rembrandt's pupils, probably studying with him in the late 1630's. But the style of this painting shows that he had moved away from Rembrandt's influence and was painting images that were clearer and more precise than his teacher's.

'...only about a dozen of Fabritius' paintings survived a terrible explosion in a gunpowder factory in Delft, which also killed him at the early age of 32.'

Title:  Hagar and the Angel

Painter:  Carel Fabritius

Year:  circa 1643-5

Incident shown:  This too seems to be an image of Hagar's first vision of the angel - there is no sign of Ishmael. Sarah has forced the younger woman to leave the safety of the tribe and go out into the desert. Alone in the terrifying wilderness, Hagar senses the presence of another being, the Angel of God. She seems too frightened, or perhaps too wary to turn to face the Angel directly.

Bible reference:   Genesis 16:7-12

Information:  Carel Febritius was a pupil of Rembrandt's, the only one who developed a style completely his own, the only one to step out from under his teacher's shadow. As a young man he worked as a carpenter, and at first only took up painting as a sideline. His talent soon became evident, and he moved to Delft, where he had a strong influence on Vermeer. His paintings, however, are rare, since only about a dozen of them survived a terrible explosion in a gunpowder factory in Delft, which also killed him at the early age of 32.

'..one of Poussin's main patrons was Cardinal Richelieu, whom most people know as the villain in Dumas' 'Three Musketeers'.'

Title: 'Hagar and the Angel'

Painter:  Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

Year:  1660

Incident shown:  Hagar senses the presence above her of a messenger from God. She looks upwards, straining to understand what the Angel is saying. The Angel urges her away from the towering rock cliff and storm clouds ahead, back towards the clear blue sky land she has fled.

Bible reference:  Genesis 16:8-12

Information:  This of course is trivia but interesting nevertheless: one of Poussin's main patrons was Cardinal Richelieu, whom most people know as the villain in Dumas' 'Three Musketeers'.
Poussin, one of the greatest Baroque painters, was a poor boy made good. Born to an impoverished family, he trained in Paris then went to Rome, where he lived for most of his life. He returned briefly to Paris and was honored by Louis XIII, but the bitter  jealousy that this caused made him decide to return to Rome in 1643. During his lifetime he was a respected intellectual, and after his death he was influential on later painters, including Jacques-Louis David, Cézanne and even Picasso.          

Painter:  Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533)

Year:  unknown

Incident shown: Abraham's hand is raised in a gesture of rejection. Hagar's face shows exhaustion and weary reproach, her eyes swollen with crying. Her little child cowers behind her for protection. Interestingly, it is not only Hagar and her little child who are suffering - van Leyden has given  Abraham an expression full of doubt and regret.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Though he made some paintings, van Leyden was mostly known for his engravings, which were of remarkably fine quality. He knew Dürer, who made a drawing of him, and was admired by Rembrandt. His mastery of perspective is superb - look at the depth he is able to achieve on the flat surface of this picture of Abraham and Hagar.

Painter:  Pieter Lastman

Year:  1612

Incident shown:  A richly dressed Abraham places his hand on the head of his soon-to-be abandoned son Ishmael - a hollow gesture in the circumstances. Hagar's look is full of silent reproach.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Lastman was a teacher of Rembrandt's, and may have introduced him to the technique of chiarosuro. He is said to have paid particular attention to the painting of faces, hands and feet - evident in this painting. The ruined city in the background lends an air of desolation to the scene.

Painter:  Jan Victors (1619-1676)

Year:  sources give the year as 1635, but this would make Victors' age only 16 at the time; it seems a very accomplished work for such a young artist

Incident shown:  Abraham expels Hagar and her son from his home, but notice that she is moving towards light, and away from darkness - this, despite the apparent hopelessness of her situation. Sarah stands at the doorway, a mean-spirited gleam in her eyes.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Victors painted biblical scenes for 
Calvinist (Protestant) patrons, pictures infused with his own religious beliefs and designed to encourage religious belief and enquiry. He used rich colors and theatrical settings to engage the interest of viewers and lead them towards awareness of God's continuing constancy and protection. After the mid-1650's, Victors gave up painting to devote himself to caring for the sick, and he died in the East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) in 1676.

'...she and her child are being treated unjustly, and she shows it.'

Title:  'Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael'

Painter:  Il Guercino ('the man with the squint'). His original name was Giovanni Francesco Barbieri.  

Year:  1657

Incident shown:  Abraham raises one hand in a gesture of rejection. With the other, he points in the direction Hagar and their little son must go - out into the unforgiving desert. Hagar's demeanor is one of reproach - she and her child are being treated unjustly, and she shows it. Sarah pointedly turns her back on what is happening. The scene and its message are painted with clarity and simplicity.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Il Guercino's paintings are like watered-down Caravaggios. They have luscious colouring and consummate technique, but they somehow lack the impact of a Caravaggio painting, that ability to reach out and smack us in the eye. Nevertheless, they are beautiful, balanced, and perhaps more quietly thought-provoking. 

Painter:  Claude Lorraine

Year:  1668

Incident shown:  Abraham points outward - his gesture is assured, commanding. There will be no arguing, he seems to say. On the balcony behind them, almost hidden, stands Sarah watching her rivals go.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Lorraine was noted for his landscapes, and in this painting the figures of Hagar, Ishmael and Abraham are dwarfed by Nature. The artist seems to suggest that while important, they are only a small part of God's plan. Lorraine uses the landscape to mirror the story: Hagar must leave the sheltered, tamed garden for the wild unknown in the distance.

Painter: Johann Conrad Seekatz (1719-1768)

Year:  1760-65

Incident shown:  Hand-on-hip in an I-mean-business pose, Abraham points outward, signaling that Hagar and his own son Ishmael must leave. Their apparently hopeless plight is emphasized by their bare feet and ragged clothing, contrasting with his own well-shod feet.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Seekatz was a wealthy and influential German artist, Court painter in Darmstadt and friend of Germany's most famous writer, Goethe. Nevertheless, he often painted peasant life and the reality of a farmers' life. Here he uses this type of setting for a painting of Hagar, Abraham and Ishmael, acknowledging their comparatively humble origins.

Sculptor:  George Segal (1924-2000)

Year:  1987

Incident shown:  Abraham embraces Ishmael with deep regret - but farewelling him all the same. Hagar's expression is grim, almost like controlled panic at what is virtually a death sentence for herself and her son. Sarah watches, half-hidden, as the anguished farewells are made.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  George Segal was an American sculptor and painter during the height of the Pop Art Movement. His chicken farm in New Jersey became the venue for the original art performance where the term 'Happening' was coined in 1957. His sculptured figures are life-sized - he used plaster bandages and live models to build them. Their color and melancholy make them almost ghost-like.

'...a dog occupies the central position in this picture...'

Painter:  Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, 'il Grechetto, (1609-1664)

Year:  1647-9

Incident shown:  This seems to be a composite picture, since Abraham expels Hagar and Ishmael, but the Angel already hovers behind her, ready to offer help - something that only happens when she has been some time in the desert. Hagar is beautiful and young, dressed in the fluid drapery of a Greek statue. Two male figures at the left of the picture  watch the scene dispassionately.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:14

Information:  Curiously enough, Castiglione was renowned for his animal pictures and rural scenes with animals, and a dog occupies the central position in this picture. His works have an intense, fluid feeling, rather like the windswept exuberance of a Bernini sculpture.

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'...there is remarkably little to excite the viewer of this picture.' 

Title:  'Hagar and Ishmael'

Painter:  Charles Lock Eastlake

Year: 1830

Incident shown:  The water is gone, and she and the boy are exhausted, near to death. In this seemingly hopeless situation, Hagar looks heavenwards for help.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:15

Information:  This work has the sentimentality and lack of vigor that characterized many late Georgian/early Victorian paintings, particularly biblical scenes set in imagined Mediterranean landscapes. Admittedly, Eastlake spent much of his life in Europe and eventually died in Pisa, but there is remarkably little to excite the viewer of this picture. 

'....an angel has already appeared, winging towards the desperate mother.'

Painter: Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875)

Year:  1835

Incident shown:  The two figures have sought relief from the sun and seem to be positioned in the shade of a nearby rock formation, but the boy Ishmael has collapsed, and will soon be dead. Hagar appeals to God, now her only possible source of help, and out of her sightline an angel has already appeared, winging towards the desperate mother.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:16-17

Information:  Corot has positioned Hagar and Ishmael in darkness, but the Angel hovers in a sky full of the crisp, pure light that Corot was famous for. He loved Nature and natural light, and in this way was a precursor of the Impressionists.  Corot was not especially famous during his lifetime, but he had an independent income and could do what he chose. He was well-known for his generosity to other painters, and was altogether A Good Man.

'...his desperate mother now staggers forward under the load of his body.'

Painter: Hermine F Schäfer

Year:  1964

Incident shown:  The young boy Ishmael has collapsed in the searing heat of the desert, and his desperate mother now staggers forward under the load of his body. To the right of the picture is the bush under which she will place him. The discarded, empty water container lies uselessly on the ground behind her.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:15

Information:  This is an illustration from Anne de Vries' 'Children's Bible'. 

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'Has Sacchi actually read the Bible account?'

Painter:  Andrea Sacchi (1599-1661)

Year:  1630

Incident shown:  Has Sacchi actually read the Bible account? He paints a beautiful young girl, presumably Hagar, in a rather innocuous landscape, hardly an arid, murderous wilderness. The young girl is receiving the reassurances of an angel. In fact Hagar's son was around fourteen when he and his mother were ejected from Abraham's tribe, and Hagar was no longer a very young woman. This painting is more like one of the Virgin Mary with Jesus

Bible reference:  Hard to say. If I had to choose, I'd say a slightly altered version of Matthew 2:13!

Information:  Sacchi was known for his psychological penetration of the subject matter of his paintings, and his concentration on essentials. His paintings are serene, almost detached, and quite lovely. 

Title: 'Hagar in the Wilderness'

Painter:  Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647)

Year:  undated

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:17

Information:  Langranco was one of the first painters of the Baroque style in Rome, and was much admired as a 'progressive'. He was influenced by Tintoretto, and used powerful, almost monumental figures, luxuriously colored, to make an impact and focus the viewer on a central moment in the story.

Painter:  Il Guercino ('the man with the squint'). His original name was Giovanni Francesco Barbieri.  

Year:  1652

Incident shown: Hagar and Ishmael are dying, but somehow still manage to drape themselves in graceful poses. The angel, too, seems remarkably relaxed about the whole matter. Not an entirely convincing depiction of this harrowing moment in Hagar's life. But nice clothes.

Bible reference: Genesis 21:17-18

Information:  This is a beautiful, if not entirely convincing, painting. The drapery is sumptuous, the interplay of brilliant light and deep shadow is dramatic, and the overall impression is is of grace, beauty and harmony - elements in vogue at the time.

'Sensible Ishmael is concentrating on drinking water from the saucer his mother holds, rather than looking at the Guardian Angel. First things first.'

Title:  'Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness'

Painter:  Karel Dujardin (1622-1678)

Year:  circa 1662

Incident shown: Hagar receives two things she needs from the Angel: water, and instructions for her future. Dujardin has charmingly provided not one, but two, angels, the second being the Guardian Angel whose task it is to look after the child Ishmael. Sensible Ishmael is concentrating on drinking water from the saucer his mother holds, rather than looking at the Guardian Angel at his shoulder. First things first. The Angel speaking to Hagar is, traditionally, the Archangel Michael.

Bible reference: Genesis 

General Information: Dujardin was a highly skilled Dutch Italianate painter of religious and allegorical pictures. See the composition of this painting: the figures fall into a triangular shape balanced by the wing and the wing-like pointing arm of the Angel; the colors are sumptuous but muted; the faces have an other-worldly quality, but are at the same time sympathetic. There is an overall harmony and balance very few painters achieve.

Title:  'Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness

Painter:  Nicolas Colombel (1644-1717)

Year:  before 1682

Incident shown:  Ishmael lies a little way off, dying of thirst. His mother has nestled into the shade offered by a tree, but this is small comfort since the empty flask beside her spells doom for the pair. But God has answered her prayer, and the Angel (with butterfly wings, no less) points towards a previously unseen well of water.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:15-19

Information: Colombel's paintings had several notable features: he tried to present an accurate landscape for each subject - a detail often ignored by his contemporaries; his colors are refined and often very beautiful; he studiously followed the rules of perspective; and he blessed the viewer with elegant landscapes.

Title:  'Hagar and the Angel'

Painter:  Marcantonio Franceschini (1648-1729)

Year:  date unknown; 17th-18th century

Incident shown:  The boy Ishmael is dying. Hagar is not separated by him, as the Bible states, but nurses his body in her arms. The cloud of Death handing over the boy is dispersed by the Angel's presence.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:17

Information: Franceschini's style has been described as Barochetto - a mixture of Baroque and Rococo. The paintings themselves could almost have been made on porcelain, so delicate are the colors. At the same time, there is a sensuality in the skin tones - Hagar's skin is still voluptuous, but Ishmael's greyish pallor heralds his imminent death. The angel, on the other hand, seems bathed in golden light.

'Painting onto a ceiling is a physically arduous task, as Michelangelo no doubt could testify.'

Title: Hagar in the Wilderness

Painter: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Year 1726

Incident shown:  The wan face and pallid little body of Ishmael look down at us from above. Hagar, however, is concentrating on the Angel, who is pointing to a source of water that will save both their lives.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:15-21

Information:  Tiepolo was a master of color, perspective and composition, and these skills allowed him to excel in decorating architectural spaces such as the cupola shown here. Painting an illusionist ceiling, Tiepolo's forte, is even more difficult to paint than a flat surface, but the trompe l'oeil effect was a technique at which he excelled. The illusion of depth in this painting by Tiepolo is masterly. Painting onto a ceiling is a physically arduous task, as Michelangelo no doubt could testify. 

Title:  'The Angel Appearing Before Hagar and Ishmael'

Painter:  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Year:  1732

Incident shown:  This is an aristocratic Hagar now robbed of almost all she had. But her son, her most valued possession, remains. Her elegant hand points to the boy and seems to ask 'Why? How could this have happened to one so innocent?' The angel, with its foot outstretched behind it, has no answer, but points to the water that will save the child.

Bible reference:  Genesis 21:15-19

Information:  Tiepolo had a somewhat melancholic style, and was drawn to strong contrasts of light and shade, or chiaroscuro. He used this style, coupled with a flair for the dramatic, in this painting of Hagar and Ishmael. Her gracefully arching neck and upturned face, the pallor of the little body lying beside her, the vigor of the angel, the interplay of light and darkness - these qualities combine to make a master piece.

'God is at hand...'

Painter:  Marc Chagall

Year: 1960

Incident shown: Hagar tries to envelop Ishmael in her arms, nursing him as he dies - not strictly as described in the Bible, but a touching image all the same. Help is at hand - the Angel seems almost to be running towards them, calling out to them not to despair. God is at hand.

Bible reference: Genesis 21:15-19

Information: This lithograph is from the series of etchings of incidents in the Bible, begun by Chagall in the late 1920's and completed in 1956. Chagall was a Russian Jew who lived most of his life in France - these details help to explain his preoccupation with the stories of the Bible, and his poetic, almost dream-like images

Painter:  James Tissot

Year:  1896

Incident shown: The image of Ishmael as an archer is hardly ever represented in Western art, but it draws on a verse about the continuing life of Hagar. She lived with her son in the wilderness of Paran, and he became an expert archer.

Bible reference: Genesis 21:20

Information: The location of the wilderness of Paran is unknown, but it may have been the Negev desert, or the area directly north of the Gulf of Aqaba. Tissot lived for a time in Palestine, researching the landscape and people for a series on the Old Testament. His paintings and drawings are more accurate and realistic than most 19th century biblical art.