Scene of Sacrifice 18th century

This drawing, "Scene of Sacrifice", was made by an anonymous artist, using pen and brown ink on paper. The image presents us with a fascinating look into the artist’s process. The strokes are free and uninhibited, more like a rapid notation than a highly finished composition. You can almost see the artist’s hand moving across the page, quickly capturing an idea. And what idea is being captured here? The subject matter is a classical sacrifice, full of figures in flowing robes, a ritual column, and even a musician playing a horn. Yet there’s also something very immediate and present about the drawing. It’s as though the artist has taken a scene from antiquity and made it live again through the immediacy of their mark-making. This piece reminds us that every work of art is as much about the moment of its making as it is about the time it depicts.