The birth of Isaac

The layout of the Verdun altar makes a comparison between the Old Testament miracles of the birth of Isaac and Samson and the immaculate birth of Jesus in the New Testament. Admittedly while a handmaiden stands by the mother at the births of Isaac and Samson, the Son of God has to make do without. The 3 plates are organised in a column on the left wing.

The birth of Isaac is featured on the second plate of the top row. Sarah, stretched out on the bed, nurses her newborn son, presented to her on a cloth by a youthful-looking midwife. Father Abraham sits on the left. The book of Genesis adds: ”And Sarah said: God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me…Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”