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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Rocky landscape with Hagar and Ishmael
Gainsborough's only original religious composition, this work was painted around 1788. Mother and son are shown trudging into the dark wilderness. Following the description given in Genesis XXI, 9-15 Hagar carries the precious water bottle on her shoulder. With its rich, dark tonalities, this picture is an essay in the style of the seventeenth-century Spanish painter Murillo, who was a powerful influence on Gainsborough in the 1780s.
Collection Area
Art
Item Number
NMW A 100
Acquisition
Purchase, 7/7/1965
Measurements
Height
(cm): 78.2
Width
(cm): 95
Height
(in): 30
Width
(in): 37
Techniques
oil on canvas
Techniques (fine art)
art dept - fine
Fine Art - painting
Material
oil
canvas
Location
Gallery 04
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