Editor: Chiara Petrolini – Image Gallery
Manner in which they Bury Themselves (1728)
from: Picart, B. Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses des Peuples Idolatres, tome II, Amsterdam, 1728
London, Wellcome Collection
Ancient ritual sacrifice depicting a boar, a bull and a ram (suovetaurilia) being brought towards the altar at right, after a Roman relief from the Julio-Claudian era (1544-1577)
from: Series: Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae, published in Rome
Ritual Sacrifice of a Calf (1712)
from: Theophili Amilii... Erörterung der dunckelsten und schwersten Schrifft-Stellen im N. Testament, Franckfurt, Samuel Heyl, 1712
Wikimedia & google books
Interior of a temple with an idol which has horns and faces on its chest. Also includes torches and lamps. Includes a scene of sacrifice, bones or skeleton, knife, and European soldiers. (1671)
from: Arnoldus Montanus, De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld, Amsterdam, Jacob Meurs, 1671, p. 82
John Carter Brown Library
(1729)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Sacrifice of leopards was the prerogative of the king. Captured leopards were sacrified at the annual Igue ceremony. (16th-17th)
from: Benin City, Nigeria [Benin Brass Plaques]
Samson smashes down the pillars in the Philistines' house (Samson reißt die Säulen im Haus der Philister ein) (1601-1625)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel
Sacrificial Knife (1634)
from: Liceti, Fortunio, Pyronarcha, sive, De fulminum natura deque febrium origine, Crivellarum, Padua, 1634, p. 123
Native Americans [?] sacrifice children on an altar. Includes priests with knives who place the infants on a pyre. (1662)
from: Schultze, Gottfried, De nieuwe bereysde wereldt, Iohannes Tongerloo, La Hague, 1662, frontespiece
The John Carter Brown Library
Sacrifice for priestly ordination (1731)
from: Scheuchzer, Johann Jakob, Physica Sacra (Kupfer-Bibel), Augsburg and Ulm, Christian Ulrich Wagner, 1731-1735, vol 2, p. 324, Tafel 203 (ZB III ZZ 55)Illustriert Ex 29,1
Zürich, ZB, Graphische Sammlung, Füssli J.M. Phys. Sac. ZEI 50 / emanuscripta
Vishnu, Brahman and three other deities perform a yagna, a fire sacrifice (1800-1899)
London, Wellcome Collection
Le Culte des Hommes (The Worship of Men), from Les Sacrifices (The Sacrifices) (1625-1627)
from: http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42582956v
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The sacrifice of Isaac (1550-1599)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze
Shepherd sacrificing Ram
from: Book of Meshal Ha-Kadmoni (from Germany)
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. hebr. 107 (Steinschneider 1895, No. 107), fol. 24
Samson destroys the temple (15th)
from: Boccaccio, De casibus virorum illustrium
Paris, BnF, Ms Français 233 fol. 28
Aeneas finds a sow with 30 piglets, and sacrifices her to Jupiter and Juno [1530]
from: Vergil, Aeneid (Limoges, France)
London, Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. 1604-1855)
The Sacrifice of Isaac
Christie's, London
Cain and Abel Sacrifice (1500 - 1515)
Harvard Art Museums - Fogg Museum, Cambridge
Deities and Demons Performing the Yajna Sacrifice from the Devi Mahatmya (18th)
from: India, Rajput
Princeton University Art Museum
The clothing of the Jewish priests (1697)
from: Johannes Braun: Bigdê kohanîm. Id Est Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, 2 Bde., Amsterdam: Abraham van Someren, 1697-1698
Photograph shows the Kapparot. Two girls and a boy reading from a book; each girl is holding a hen as a man holds a rooster over the head of the boy. (1901)
from: Photographic prints
Library of Congress, Washington DC
(1492)
from: Johannn Schönsperger, Speculum humanae salvationis, Augsburg, 1492 (Incunabula), fol. 119v
The Munich DigitiZation Center (MDZ)
Aeneas Offers Sacrifice to the Gods of the Lower World (1530-1540)
from: Vergil, Aeneid, edited by Sebastian Brant and printed by Johann Grüninge (Limoges, France)
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Scenes of sacrifice (1685)
from: Title page of Herman Witsius, De oeconomia foderum Dei cum hominibus, Leeuwarden, 1685
The Sacrifice of Isaac (1480-1490)
from: Vita Christi [Getty Museum, Ms. 101, fol. 11, England]
Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Suttee. Gouache painting by a painter of Thanjavur (Tanjore) [1800]
from: Tanjore
London, Wellcome Collection
The Sacrifice of Isaac (15th)
from: Marco Polo, Livre des merveilles ; Odoric de Pordenone, Itinerarium de mirabilibus orientalium Tartarorum, traduit en français par Jean le Long ; Guillaume de Boldensele,Liber de quibusdam ultramarinis partibus et praecipue de Terra sancta, traduit en français par Jean Le Long et Lettres adressées au pape et réponse de Benoît XII, traduit en français par Jean Le Long ; De l’estat et du gouvernement du grant Kaan de Cathay, empereur des Tartares, traduit en français par Jean Le Long ; Jean de Mandeville, Voyages; Hayton, Fleur des estoires de la terre d’Orient ; Riccoldo da Monte di Croce,Liber peregrinationis, traduit en français par Jean Le Long (France)
Paris, BnF, Français 2810, fol. 167
An illustration from the Ramayana. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa protect the rishis' sacrificial fire from the rakṣasas (demons) (1800-1805)
from: This is from a series of eighty-four paintings on European paper and was once stored in a folder labelled: 'Ramayana Subjects, Deccani School: 1800-1805 (on European paper)'.
British Museum, London
The Angel Departing from Manoah and His Wife (Victima per Manuen, domino mactatur optima: Vxor) (1584)
from: The Story of Samson, Hand-colored engravings (Netherlands)
Harvard Art Museum
Father Didacus Carvallius (Carvalho) being executed by submersion in a frozen lake in Japan on February 22, 1624 (1675)
from: Tanner, Mathias Societas Iesu usque ad sanguinis et vitae profusionem militans, Pragae, Typis Universitatis Carolo-Ferdinandeae in Collegio Societatis Jesu ad S. Clementem, 1675, p. 313
‘Duo fratres coadjutores.’ Two anonymous Jesuit co-adjutores, one shown struck by arrows, the other beaten by a club in Brazil (1675)
from: Tanner, Mathias, Societas Iesu usque ad sanguinis et vitae profusionem militans, Typis Universitatis Carolo-Ferdinandeae in Collegio Societatis Jesu ad S. Clementem, Prague 1675, p. 441
John Carter Brown Library at Brown University
Sacrifice of Abel
from: Istituto Centrale per la Grafica
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Fondo Corsini; volume 36H3
Sacrifice of Noah (1519-1527)
Albertina, Vienna
Samson, mocked by the Philistines, throws down the pillars of the house [1350-1400]
from: Speculum humanae salvationis metrice cum figuris pictis (Germany)
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cim 3003
People of Qulla Suyu ofering a llama and basket of coca leaves to the mountain-waqa Willka Nuta (1615)
from: Guamán Poma de Ayala, F. Primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno [1616]. Manuscript conserved in the København, Det Kongelige Bibliotek [ Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark ], GKS 2232 4°.
Qābil (Cain) and the dead Hābil (Abel) (XVI)
from: Nīšāpūrī, Isḥāq Ibn-Ibrāhīm: Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Diez A fol. 3
The Sacrifice of Noah (1675)
from: Imagines Veteris Ac Novi Testamenti A Raphaele Sanctio Urbinate in Vaticani
Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Fondo Nazionale; Pio; volume 8F.PIO
The Sacrifice of Isaac (calco ottocentesco della formella originale) (1421)
from: Basilica di San Petronio, Bologna
Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
A Pagan Sacrifice (1526)
National Gallery, London
Sacrifice of the Camel (1666)
from: Della Valle, Pietro, De volkome beschryving der voortreffelijke reizen van de deurluchtige reisiger Pietro della Valle, edelman van Romen, in veel voorname gewesten des werrelts, sedert het jaer 1615, tot in 't jaar 1626 gedaan. Amsterdam, Abraham Wolfgang, 1666, vol. 1, pag. 128
The Sacrifice of Isaac (Armenian Gospel Book) (1386)
from: Lake Van, Turkey
Getty Museum, Armenian Ms. Ludwig II 6 (83.MB.70), fol. 5v
Ritual knife (grigug), Tibet (18th)
London, V&A Museum
Joachim's sacrifice is rejected (1500-1527)
Albertina, Vienna
Tripod vessel with baby jaguar sacrifice scene (650–750)
Princeton University Art Museum
The Sacrifice of Isaac
from: Collezioni dagli Ospedali Civili di Genova
Genova, Musei di Strada Nuova - Palazzo Bianco, inv. PB 2887
the healers making an offering to an idol asking if it can cure the sick person. As atonement, a number of goats are slaughtered. In the process, the tent of the sick man is incensed. In the background is a thanksgiving feast at an idol. On the right image, a man (according to the text a Jesuit) is being shaved by a toll master in front of some Dutchmen. (1682)
from: Vries, Simon de. Curieuse aenmerckingen der bysonderste Oost en West-Indische verwonderens-waerdige dingen, deel 4, p. 664 en deel 3, p. 596. Utrecht: J. Ribbius, 1682
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Sacrifice of Jephthah [1350 - 1400]
from: Speculum humanae salvationis (Bologna) [Arsenal, Ms 593, fol. 7v]
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
A Jewish priest and high priest preparing to offer a sacrifice (1785)
from: Dandré-Bardon, Michel François, Costume des anciens peuples, a l'usage des artistes / par M. Dandré Bardon ; contenant les usages religieux, civils, domestiques & militaires des Grecs, des Romains, des Israélites & des Hébreux, des Egyptiens, des Perses, des Scythes, des Amazones, des Parthes, des Daces, des Sarmates & autres peuples tant orientaux qu'occidentaux, Paris, A. Jombert, 1784-1786, vol. 3
Moses, an animal sacrifice on the altar and a ring of fire (1651-1725)
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel
Two boys preparing to sacrifice a young buffalo, Vārānasi , India (1920)
Yale University Library
The sacrifice of Isaac. The Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) surviving the furnace (above), and preparing to sacrifice his son Ism'il (below), from The Cream of Histories (Zubdat al-tawarikh) by Sayyid Luqman-i 'Ashuri (1585)
from: Sayyid Luqman-i Ashur, Zubdat al-tawarikh, Istanbul, Turkey
Sayyid Luqman-i Ashur, Zubdat al-tawarikh, detached folio, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
The sacrifice of Isaac. Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice to Moriah (1470)
from: peculum humanae salvationis, Marseille, Bibliothèque municipale, ms 89, fol. 22v
Bibliothèque municipale, Marseille
Cain killing Abel, besides Cain and Abel standing, holding their sacrifices [1420]
from: Speculum humanae salvationis, Prague, Národní Muzeum, III.B.10, fol. 22r
Národní Muzeum, Prague
(1627)
from: Matthäus Rader, Bavaria Sancta, vol. III, 1627, p. 173
Sacrificial instruments of the Israelites (1784)
from: Dandré-Bardon, Michel François, Costume des anciens peuples, a l'usage des artistes / par M. Dandré Bardon ; contenant les usages religieux, civils, domestiques & militaires des Grecs, des Romains, des Israélites & des Hébreux, des Egyptiens, des Perses, des Scythes, des Amazones, des Parthes, des Daces, des Sarmates & autres peuples tant orientaux qu'occidentaux, Paris, A. Jombert, 1784-1786, vol. 3
The offering of the Jews
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Human sacrifice in the forest (1660)
from: Johan Picardt, Korte beschryvinge van eenige vergetene en verborgene antiquiteten ... in het antiquiteet-rijcke landschap Drenth, Tymon Houthaak, Amsterdam, 1660, fol. 67
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Abraham (1907)
London, Christie's
The sacrifice of Isaac (Bild des Stark-Gläubigen) (1720)
from: Winterthur
Universitätsbibliothek Zürich
Jews put to the flames (1475)
from: Historie von Simon zu Trient [Bayerische StaatsBibliothek, 2 Inc.s.a. 62#Beibd], fol. 11v
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich
Pedro de Espinosa kneels before a vision of the Virgin Mary and Child while a native American prepares to kill him with an ax or hatchet. Paraguay in 1637 (1676)
from: Tanner, Mathias, Societas Iesu usque ad sanguinis et vitae profusionem militans, Typis Universitatis Carolo-Ferdinandeae in Collegio Societatis Jesu ad S. Clementem, Prague 1675, p. 495
John Carter Brown Library at Brown University
The Sacrifice of Isaac [1425]
from: Hafiz Abru, Majma` al-tavarikh, Sacrifice of Ismāʿīl, Walters Manuscript W.676Aa [from Istanbul]
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland
The Sacrifice of Polyxena. Folding Fan Showing the Painting of Pietro da Cortona (1730)
from: Holland
The State Ermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
The sacrifice of the horse (asvamedha) by King Yudhisthira [1598 - 1605]
from: Ramznama
Louvre, Paris
Handprints of women who committed sati
Wall of the Junagarh Fort (Bikaner, Rajasthan, India)
The tomb of the weroans – An Algonquian burial house showing bodies on a raised platform and a priest squatting by a fire beneath the platform. (1590)
from: Thomas Hariot, Wunderbarliche, doch warhafftige Erklärung, von der Gelegenheit vnd Sitten der Wilden in Virginia, Franckfort am Mayn, Wechel-De Bry, 1590, plate 22
(1714)
New York Public Library
Aeneas and His Companions Sacrifice to the Gods before the Tomb of his Father, Anchises, in Sicily (1530–35)
from: Vergil, Aeneid, edited by Sebastian Brant and printed by Johann Grüninge (Limoges, France)
The Metropolitan Art Museum, New York
Sacrifice d'un Agneau Noir, le jour de la grande fête du Soleil (1723)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Scene of idolatrous sacrifice (1668)
from: Der gantzen Welt Religionen oder Beschreibung aller Gottes- und Götzendienste wie auch Ketzereyen in Asia, Africa, America und Europa, Amsterdam, Joach. Nosch, 1668
Sacrificial Knife, Zoomophic Handle [1300-1521]
Museo delle Civilità/MPE Pigorini inv. 4215
Emperor Jahangir and Prince Khurram at the gathering for the Feast of the Sacrifice (1615-1625)
from: India
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst
(15th)
from: Boccaccio, De casibus virorum illustrium, transl. by Boccace, De casibus, trad. Laurent de Premierfait
Bibliothèque nationale de France, ms Français 226, fol. 20v
De kinderen in't dal Topeth, aan den Molech ter verbrandinge overgegeven (1701)
from: Petrus Cunaeus, Willem Goeree (transl.), De Republyk Der Hebreen, of Gemeenebest der Joden, in drie boeken, Amsterdam, 1701, p. 32
Sacrificial scene before the Golden Calf (16th-17th)
Albertina, Vienna
The Sacrifice of Isaac (detail of the Prado's Adoration of the Magi) (1494)
Madrid, Museo del Prado
