(Antwerp 1708-1776),
A cycle of four large biblical paintings dealing with the story of Abraham,
(1) The Sacrifice of Abraham, oil on canvas, 225 x 174 cm, framed,
(2) The Pharaoh Giving Abraham Back His Wife, oil on canvas, 226 x 168 cm, framed,
(3) A Feast, oil on canvas, 224 x 167 cm, framed, (
4) Melchizedek Presenting Bread and Wine upon Abraham’s Return from Battle,
oil on canvas, 225 x 323 cm, framed

Provenance: formerly in the artists house "De Rozenhoed" at No. 36 Keizerstraat in Antwerp;
Belgian private collection;
sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 6 October 2009, lot 214;
European private collection.

Literature: F. Smolders, Balthasar Beschey, Antwerps Kunstschilder, 1708-1776, Kunsthistorisch Instituut Antwerp, 1973/74, pp. 16 and 85.

A fifth painting once forming part of this cycle and depicting the Dismissal of Hagar was separated from the other pictures in the settlement of an estate. Balthasar Beschey was the most important painter in 18th-century Antwerp. He painted richly populated landscapes in the manner of Jan Brueghel the Elder, as well as portraits and history paintings. Beschey was a professor at the Antwerp Academy and later was appointed director, while he was also chairman of the Guild of Saint Luke. He decorated his own house with monumental history paintings recounting the story of Abraham. They are characteristic examples of his art and reveal his narrative and compositional talents.