A Sacrifice

Ercole Grandi

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Ercole Grandi. The drawing shows a man cutting the throat of a lamb in a church interior. The man is standing to the left of the centre of the composition and is holding the lamb to the right with a knife through the skin at its throat. Another man steps forwards from the right to hold a basin under the lamb's neck. Both these men are wearing drapery that is pinned with a broach at the right shoulder, and the man holding the lamb is also wearing a turban. On a raised step behind this scene is an altar on which there are a few pieces of wood that have been set alight. A bearded man to the left is holding a stick out towards this fire, while a man to the right wearing a monk’s habit is holding a goblet. Behind this altar is an architectural apse in which there is a statue of an androgynous figure. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "No. 15 ERCOLE GRANDI (Worked from 1489 onwards: d. about 1535) A SACRIFICE Collection of the Hon. A. E. Gathorne-Hardy (from the Bromley-Davenport Collection). Pen and bistre with bistre wash. 42 x 30 cm. (16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in.) The divinity to whom the sacrifice is being offered is apparently Diana, since she holds an arrow; although the figure has been described as male. The high priest, in tall turban, appears to be making signs with a wand over the head of the priest who is slitting the throat of a kid. With the head of this priest compare the turbaned head in the right-hand medallion in the Madonna with Saints in the National Gallery. The attendant on the right holds an incense-boat and a censer. The attribution of the drawing to Ercole di Giulio Cesare Grandi is strongly supported by comparison with such a composition as the picture just mentioned."