Asaph Mourns in the Ruined Sanctuary

Prompt

Psalm 74 (Maschil of Asaph): "O God, why have you cast us off for ever?... they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into your sanctuary... O God, how long shall the adversary reproach?" A Levite singer of the family of Asaph, a grey-bearded man in a torn white linen robe, kneels among the smoking ruins of the sanctuary in Jerusalem, holding a fragment of a carved cedar panel overlaid with gold, his face lifted to heaven in grief and pleading. He is large and central. Around him lie fallen stones, broken carved beams and glowing embers; behind him, smoke rises from the burnt walls into a sky lit orange and gold by the setting sun. The man wears a wrapped turban or head-cloth over his hair. Style: a blend of photo-realism and cinema, like a still from a big-budget film. Bright, rich, saturated, luminous colour, clear daylight or glowing golden light even in dramatic scenes, never murky or muddy, crisp detail, real human faces full of emotion, shallow depth of field, subtle film grain. Simple, uncluttered composition: ONE clear scene from this chapter, with the chapter's main character or characters large, close and central in the upper and middle frame, and a simple background. No montage, no collage, no inset vignettes, no crowd of small figures competing for attention. Historically accurate ancient Near Eastern clothing, architecture and landscape. Keep the bottom quarter of the frame simple and uncluttered (ground, water or sky) so a large chapter number can be set over it. Absolutely no text, no letters, no words, no numbers, no logos, no watermark, no border, no frame.