Alcalá, "The Gorgeous Sarcophagus" of Ximenez c. 1903

Joseph Pennell made this lithograph, "Alcalá, 'The Gorgeous Sarcophagus' of Ximenez," using crayon. It's not just a drawing; it’s a whole mood. The surface is alive with these almost scribbly marks, like he's trying to capture the energy of the place rather than just the look of it. See how the crayon dances across the paper, creating a play of light and shadow that almost feels like you could reach out and touch it? There's a real physicality to the marks, a sense of the artist's hand moving across the stone. The cross-hatching is amazing! Pennell builds up the tones really slowly and organically, especially where the vaulted ceiling meets the vertical pillar on the right. I think you can see a kinship with Piranesi, with his obsession with architecture and mark making! It’s about a conversation between artists, a kind of visual echo that bounces through time.