This scene, taken from Genesis 21:9–21, depicts Abraham banishing his second wife, Hagar, and their son, Ishmael, from the family home. Sarah, his first wife, watches from a window above. Ciro Ferri set the figures in an idyllic, mountainous landscape instead of a dry desert, which was the original setting for the story. This change in scenery is typical of seventeenth-century Italian painting. The artist added decorative arrangements of foliage as framing devices to highlight the central figures and action. He also invigorated the image by the use of strong diagonal compositional elements that underscore the drama of the story.

from Snite Museum of Art, Selected Works: Snite Museum of Art (Notre Dame, 2005)