Two heads identified as those of Abraham and his son Isaac

Abraham is often referred to as the father of believers. A patriarch, Abraham becomes a father to his wife Sarah at a very old age.

In the Bible, Abraham agrees to sacrifice his only son. God stops him and substitutes his son with a ram, promising Abraham that he will be the father of an innumerable people.

Along with Moses, he is depicted in the typological stained glass of Redemption at the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Châlons-en-Champagne.

Typological stained glass of Châlons-en-Champagne
Bay 2: Redemption, detail of the central register
Photo © Garitan, Wikimedia, Free License


This association is also found at the center of the composition on the portable altar of Stavelot, in the upper left register:

Portable altar of Stavelot (detail)
Mosan workshop, between 1150 and 1158
Royal Museums of Art and History / Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis,
Brussels, inv. 1590
CC BY – SA 4.0 - © ImageStudio MRAH Brussels