King Making Sacrifice at Temple of Diana n.d.

This delicate sketch, “King Making Sacrifice at Temple of Diana,” is held at the Art Institute of Chicago and was made anonymously. The drawing depicts a scene of religious ritual, likely intended to invoke the favor of Diana. The drawing offers a window into the religious practices and beliefs of its time, as well as broader cultural ideas about leadership and divine power. I see how the artist uses line to create depth and movement, drawing our eye towards the temple in the background. In classical art, such acts of sacrifice and devotion are often a performance of power, and reinforce existing social hierarchies. This sketch, however, has a tentative quality to it. The ambiguity in the characters’ expressions and actions hints at a more complex relationship between power, belief, and personal experience. The drawing invites us to consider the tensions between public duty and private conviction, between tradition and individual agency.