A Sacrifice Interrupted
Medium
pen and brown ink
Dimensions
sheet: 24.5 × 36 cm · secondary support: 31.7 × 43.7 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund and Delia E. Holden Fund
Accession Number
1978.20
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
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 subje...