Who painted Abraham Meets Melchizedek?

Peter Paul Rubens painted Abraham Meets Melchizedek in 1625.

What Bible passage does Abraham Meets Melchizedek depict?

Abraham Meets Melchizedek depicts the biblical scene from Genesis 14.

Where is Abraham Meets Melchizedek located?

Abraham Meets Melchizedek is housed at National Gallery of Art, National Mall, Washington DC.

Abraham Meets Melchizedek by Peter Paul Rubens

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Around 1625, Peter Paul Rubens received an important commission from the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, Governess of the Southern Netherlands (1566–1633) to design a tapestry series of The Triumph of the Eucharist for the royal convent of the Poor Clares in Madrid. The tapestries were to be hung during the feast days of Good Friday and Corpus Christi, which celebrate Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. The subject had profound meaning for the Poor Clares, who were particularly devoted to the Eucharist—the bread and wine of the Mass that Catholics believe miraculously transubstantiates into the body and blood of Christ when consecrated by a priest. Rubens focused on Old Testament prefigurations of the Eucharist and allegorical subjects symbolizing triumph of the Catholic Church over the forces of evil and heresy.

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizidek is a highly finished modello, or sketch, for one of the Old Testament prefigurations of the Eucharist. This story from Genesis tells of the gifts of bread and wine that Abraham received from the Priest-King of Salem, Melchizedek, after returning from a victorious battle (Gen. 14: 17-20). Catholic theologians viewed Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine as a prefiguration of the Last Supper, and even saw Melchizedek, whose name means “king of Justice,” as a prefiguration of Christ. In Rubens’s vivid portrayal, the scene unfolds on an illusionistically painted tapestry held aloft by putti before an architectural framework. Abraham, in armor standing at the head of his band of soldiers, appears in the center, gratefully receiving loaves of bread from Melchizidek. As the two men lean toward one another, they lock eyes as though they have a premonition, unshared by the others, that the bread and wine have significance beyond bodily sustenance.

Rubens reinforced the momentousness of the encounter not only through compositional devices, but also through his exuberant style. His vivid colors, rich textures, and expressive brush imbue the scene with a feeling of grandeur. In this way Rubens both signals the importance of the prefigured Eucharist in the Old Testament and suggests its continued centrality to the Catholic Faith in his own time.

Details

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens
Created: c. 1625
Medium: oil on panel
Dimension: 82cm × 66cm
Passage: Genesis 14
Housed at: National Gallery of Art National Mall, Washington DC

Found in: Genesis, Genesis 14, 17th century, Abraham

Genesis 14

1 In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,

2 they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar).

3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea).

4 They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness.

7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim;

9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.

10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills.

11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way.

12 They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and they were allies of Abram.

14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the other people.

17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.”

22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

Genesis 14 · World English Bible

The artist

Peter Paul Rubens

1577 - 1640

Siegen, Germany

Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist. He is considered the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.