This episode is taken from the Old Testament (Genesis 16 & 21). Abraham has a child called Ishmael by Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant of his aged & barren wife, Sara. When Sara miraculously conceives & gives birth to Isaac, she demands that Hagar & Ishmael should be banished, to which Abraham reluctantly agrees. In the wilderness their supplies run out, but an angel appears & points out a source of water to Hagar. Guercino painted this picture for the Sienese patron Pandolfo Savini. He focuses on the sorry plight of Hagar while Ishmael sleeps in the background.