The Feast of Belshazzar
1697–1732
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white, over black chalk, on brownish paper
Dimensions
11-1/4 x 14-15/16 in. (28.5 x 38.0 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.425
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the grand tradition of Baroque religious drama, Antonio Gionima's *The Feast of Belshazz* (ca. 1697–1732) captures a pivotal moment from the Book of Daniel. The scene depicts the opulent banquet of the Babylonian king Belshazz, where revelry turns to terror with the mysterious appearance of a divine hand writing on the wall, foretelling the empire's downfall. Gionima, an Italian artist of the late 17th and early th centuries, infuses the composition with dynamic energy, crowding the sheet with figures in lavish attire—men and women feasting amid goblets and platters—evoking the excesses of ...