[1] The Sacrifice of Isaac, in the Piasecka-Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey, is a disputed work that was painted circa 1603.

According to Giulio Mancini, a contemporary of Caravaggio and an early biographer, the artist, while convalescing in the Hospital of the Consolazione, did a number of paintings which the prior took home with him to Seville.

The scene is lit with the dramatically enhanced chiaroscuro (tenebrism) with which Caravaggio was to revolutionize Western art, falling like a stage spotlight on the face of the youthful angel.

The three figures and the ram are shown without background or context, with nothing to distract from the powerful psychological drama as God's promise is delivered.

Recent X-ray analysis showed that Caravaggio used Cecco also for the angel, and later modified the profile and the hair to hide the resemblance.