Three pilgrim announce Abraham the birth of Isaac 

Alexander Ivanov created this watercolour drawing of “Three Pilgrims Announce to Abraham the Birth of Isaac”. Ivanov was a Russian artist who spent much of his working life in Italy, moving in circles that engaged with some of the great intellectual debates of the time. Ivanov treats a key episode from the Old Testament book of Genesis. Three angels visit Abraham to tell him that his wife Sarah will bear a child, Isaac. The scene captures the moment that the elderly Sarah overhears this seemingly impossible prediction. We see her listening at the door of the tent. Ivanov renders this scene with rapid brushstrokes and fluid washes, suggesting a kind of interiority and spontaneity. But the work can be viewed as part of a wider cultural and institutional history, as the artist seeks to use the Bible to explore universal human values. To understand such artistic choices, we need to consider the intellectual and spiritual climate in which it was made. In that way, we can appreciate the social role of art.