Image Details

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

As sulfurous fire rains on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:23), Lot leads his daughters to safety in the hills, in this painting by Albrecht Durer (1471–1528). Realizing that Abraham considers Lot his heir, God forces Lot to leave Sodom by destroying the city, hoping this will encourage Abraham and Sarah to have children. God even turns Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt so that Lot will have no offspring. In this painting she stands frozen on the path behind her family, looking back at the city.

But Lot’s daughters thwart God’s plans. They ply their father with wine (note the flask slung across his back) and seduce him “to maintain life through [their] father” (Genesis 19:32).