This monumental marble group depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac ⓘ was carved in 1429 by Donatello ⓘ, in collaboration with Nanni di Bartolo. The sculpture represents the biblical episode from Book of Genesis (Genesis 22), in which Abraham ⓘ prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command. It is the first free-standing sculptural group of two life-size figures carved from a single block of marble since Antiquity, and includes the first life-size nude in monumental sculpture of the post-classical period.

Abraham is shown as an elderly, bearded figure, partially draped, restraining Isaac with one arm while raising the other in preparation for the act of sacrifice. Isaac is depicted as a nude young man, his hands bound behind his back, his body twisting in a pronounced contrapposto. The rocky base alludes to Mount Moriah, the site of the sacrifice. The figures are conceived to be read from below, with exaggerated torsion and deep carving enhancing legibility at a distance.

The sculpture was originally installed high on the north side of Giotto’s Campanile, adjacent to Santa Maria del Fiore. It is now preserved in the Opera del Duomo in Florence.