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Original fileIn the foreground, Abraham receives three celestial messengers at a round table prepared with bread. To the right, a continuous narrative shows the angels departing toward a vast, detailed city landscape across a river, representing Sodom. The print features the high-horizon perspective and stylized, rolling clouds typical of Netherlandish Mannerism.
As a central figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, Goltzius's work often intersected with the mystical and philosophical interests of the Dutch intellectual elite, including the 'Family of Love.' This specific scene was frequently cited in Neoplatonic and Christian Kabbalistic circles as a primary instance of the 'Vision of God' or the manifestation of the Trinity in the material world.
2
Philo of Alexandria
In 'On Abraham', Philo provides a Neoplatonic interpretation of this scene as the soul perceiving the 'Existent One' and his two shadow-powers.
Genesis 18
The primary scriptural source for the 'Hospitality of Abraham' and the promise of Isaac.
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
RC paper
height 204 mm x width 304 mm
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.