 Departing from Ripa's allusion to the story of Abraham and Isaac (an Old Testament story said to prefigure the faithful sacrifice of Christ on the Cross), Vermeer instead uses an image of the Crucifixion itself — an image dear to the Jesuits.Vermeer used "Crucifixion", a painting from about 1620 by Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678).The painter may have owned a copy of the painting.