Abraham en de drie engelen 1857 - 1914

Nikolay Semyonovich Mosolov created this image, Abraham and the Three Angels, as an etching. It depicts a scene from the Book of Genesis. In nineteenth-century Russia, art was often closely tied to religious and national identity, and it served specific social functions. Mosolov’s choice of a biblical theme aligns with the broader trend of religious art produced during this era. The Imperial Academy of Arts played a central role in shaping artistic styles and subject matter. Artists working outside this institution often faced challenges in gaining recognition and patronage. The image is rendered in a style that combines academic precision with a certain dramatic flair. The etching technique allows for fine details, emphasizing the figures' expressions and textures. To better understand the work we can look into archives, religious texts, and studies of Russian art during the nineteenth century, and doing so reminds us that the meaning of art is never fixed but always evolves within a specific social and institutional context.