Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery 

Ivan Mestrovic rendered this drawing of Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery with graphite on paper. Seemingly simple, the medium lends itself to both detail and expression. The artist has employed visible strokes to model his figures. These marks accumulate to create volume through the sheer labor of their application. Notice the dense, hatched shadows, and the way the lines follow the contours of the bodies. The figures are solid, palpable, and heavy with the weight of the moment. This drawing speaks to the long tradition of academic study. But the visible marks resist the illusionism typical of this practice. Here, the means of production—the artist's hand and repetitive actions—are foregrounded. In doing so, Mestrovic gives us a powerful image, reminding us that the making is as crucial as the message.