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A Sacrifice Interrupted

John Hamilton Mortimer1770s

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

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 subject of the drawing has yet to be identified.

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  • Title: A Sacrifice Interrupted
  • Creator: John Hamilton Mortimer (British, 1740-1779)
  • Date Created: 1770s
  • Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 24.5 x 36 cm (9 5/8 x 14 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 31.7 x 43.7 cm (12 1/2 x 17 3/16 in.)
  • Provenance: (Ramiel M. Howitt, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH), Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Drawing
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.20
  • Medium: pen and brown ink
  • Fun Fact: John Hamilton Mortimer's close friend James Gandon described Mortimer's technique: "He never altered a line . . . and all the time he [worked] he conversed and entertained his friends with the same easy cheerfulness and pleasantry as if wholly unemployed."
  • Department: Drawings
  • Culture: England, 18th century
  • Credit Line: Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund and Delia E. Holden Fund
  • Collection: DR - British
  • Accession Number: 1978.20
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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