Abraham sacrifices the ram instead of Isaac, the Lord renews his promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:13-18)

In 1638 Jan Lievens was living in Antwerp, registered in the painters' guild there and by then most likely Catholic. He had grown up in Protestant Leiden, working alongside Rembrandt. Antwerp wanted large religious canvases, and this one stands nearly two metres tall.

Most painters take the story at its worst second, the knife raised above the boy. Lievens lets that moment pass. The knife is already on the ground, the ram is caught and ready in Isaac's place, and father and son are left absorbing what has just not happened, while the angel delivers the rest of the message.

The painting is in Brunswick because Duke Anton Ulrich, who died in 1714, was among the first rulers outside the Low Countries to collect Dutch and Flemish pictures on a serious scale.