The Feast of Belshazzar (Daniel 5:1-4) 1560 - 1631

Giovanni Balducci, also known as Il Cosci, created this pen and wash drawing, "The Feast of Belshazzar," sometime between 1575 and 1631. It depicts a scene from the Book of Daniel, and it's a study for a larger painting, capturing a moment of royal excess and divine retribution. Balducci, working in Florence, situates the biblical narrative within the visual language of the late Renaissance. Think about the politics of representation at play here: a Christian artist visualizing a Jewish story set in ancient Babylon. What does it mean to retell histories that are not your own? The drawing's frenzied energy mirrors the story's dramatic tension, as Belshazzar and his court are confronted with a divine message of their impending doom. Consider the emotional weight carried by these figures, caught between earthly pleasure and heavenly judgment, and what the artist is saying about the relationship between power, morality, and fate.