Hagar and the Angel – Bottani

Hagar, the Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah, was the mother of Ishmael, Abraham's first son. When Isaac, Sarah's son, was born, Ishmael mocked his younger brother so that Sarah asked Abraham to banish Ishmael, together with his mother. Abraham provided them with bread and water, and sent them off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was spent, Hagar put Ishmael under a bush to die, and then she sat some way off, weeping. But an angel appeared and disclosed a well of water near by, so mother and child were both saved. This artwork, by Bottani, depicts the scene of Hagar's and Ishmael's deliverance by the angel.