A Sacrifice Interrupted
1770s
- Medium
- pen and brown ink
- Dimensions
- 24.5 × 36 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-1103264
One of the most talented draftsmen of his generation in England, John Hamilton Mortimer became known for a style of drawing in pen and ink that was bold, confident, and energetic. This sheet depicts a large crowd in a frieze-like arrangement gathered to witness a figure with an axe on the verge of decapitating a young male captive. Mortimer deliberately sought out obscure narratives and leaned toward the violent and macabre. In spite of the research of numerous art historians, the specific subject of the drawing has yet to be identified.
Provenance
Holden Fund, 1978.20
Registry history
- 1770s — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — drawings
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