How was this made?
There are several important artistic strategies and tools used to make this piece. The piece is carved in two planes. The primary elements are Abraham, Isaac, the altar, the angel, tree, ram, the cloud, and the hand of God. They are all executed in high relief meaning that the design is projected out more than the background. The floral arabesque is carved in low relief because it is in the background and is not projected out as far as the high relief designs. The large palmette in the upper center moves from background into foreground linking the two planes. Palm leaves were a sign of the journey to Jerusalem, where the sacrifice of Isaac took place.
The wood was originally covered with gesso and gilded. Gesso is a mix of animal glue and chalk that provides a smooth surface onto which gold leaf is applied. Remains of gold leaf can be seen on the most important parts of the image: the altar, Abraham's halo and robe, the ram, and the angel.
The small and portable tools used to create the Sacrifice of Isaac would have been easy to lose, and there are not many Mamluk wooden relief carvings that survive today. Many ivory relief carvings from the same time period contain similar carving strategies and features to the Sacrifice of Isaac. These similar ivory carvings were made using small tools such as axes, chisels, and adzes. These tools could have also been used to create carvings made out of wood. The Morgan Casket, displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is an ivory relief piece made between the 11th and 12th centuries in southern Italy that is reminiscent of art from the Fatimids, an Islamic community. While the Sacrifice of Isaac is one panel separated from others, the Morgan Casket joins together nine different panels. It can also be compared to the Sacrifice of Isaac by looking at its high and low relief components and its incorporation of figural patterns.