This 1657 painting, “Hagar and the Angel” by Venetian artist Francesco Maffei, depicts the moment when the hopeless Hagar is confronted by an angel.
In Judaic literature, Hagar was the maidservant of Sarah, who was married to Abraham (meaning “father of many”). As the story goes, God promised to give Abraham a son who would father a great nation, but had yet to deliver. After the couple wandered for decades and Sarah began losing hope of bearing a child, she suggested that Abraham have a child with Hagar.
Years after Hagar gave birth to Abraham’s eldest son, Ishmael, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. One day, however, Sarah overheard the now-young teenager, Ishmael, mocking them. Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael leave them for good.
Abraham didn’t want them to leave, but God said to let it be so. Abraham followed God’s command and gave Hagar and Ishmael food and water before sending them away. Hagar and Ishmael took the supplies and disappeared into the wilderness.
Soon, the mother and son ran out of water. Hagar, unable to endure watching Ishmael die of thirst, hid him under some bushes and tried to run away. In her moment of despair, an angel appeared…
