Isaaks Opferung

For a long time this was hung as a Caravaggio, and you can see why. The light falls like a stage spotlight, catching Abraham's blade, the terrified boy pinned to the altar, and the young angel who grips the old man's wrist just in time. But scholars now give it to Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a Roman painter who fell under Caravaggio's spell in the years after the master's death in 1610. Cavarozzi carried that manner south to Spain around 1617, and works like this one helped spread Caravaggio's raw naturalism far beyond Rome. The ram waiting at the lower edge is the substitute that will spare Isaac's life.