A Note on "Abraham Banishing Hagar" by Giambattista Tiepolo

Abstract

IN 1996 THE THREE-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY of the birth of Giambattista Tiepolo was celebrated with a spate of exhibitions and conferences all over Europe and in the United States where the most noteworthy presentation took place at Metropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork. These events engendered a large number of catalogues, studies, archival investigations, new attributions, and reviews. They also led to the identification of some previously unknown works by the painter and much fresh insight into his oeuvre and working methods.' purpose of this note is to reconsider suggestions made regarding the subject matter and the titles ascribed to an enigmatic but powerful early painting by the artist. canvas, once in the Rasini collection in Milan, was first published by Antonio Morassi, who called it Abraham Banishing Hagar (Figure 1).2 Keith Christiansen accepts the title but adds a question mark,3 which indicates some doubt about the designation, and his uncertainty seems justified. He-rightly-also rejects two more recent suggestions that seem even less convincing than Morassi's reference to Genesis 16:6-8. In 1987 Bernard Aikema proffered The Sacrifice of Polyxena at the Tomb of Achilles as a title,4 while in 1993 Massimo Gemin and Filippo Pedrocco maintained that the scene depicts the banishment of Vashti, the wife of Ahasuerus, the Persian king who ordered her to appear before his guests. Vashti's refusal to do so led to her expulsion.5 Unhappy with these hypotheses, Christiansen assumes that Tiepolo's use of a recondite source inhibits the understanding of the paintings subject. latest contribution to the debate is George Knox's unconvincing alternative: Mordecai at the palace gate beseeching Esther to offer herself to Ahasuerus. This scenario, though not described in so many words in Esther, 2, covers all the main points: the magnificent palace gateway, the insistent gesture of Mordecai pointing indoors, and the emotional prostration of Esther.6