Ahaz Offers Sacrifice at the New Altar

Prompt

2 Kings 16: King Ahaz offers sacrifice on the new altar copied from the pagan altar he saw in Damascus. Ahaz, large and central, stands proudly before a great ornate stone altar built in the foreign Assyrian-Aramean style in the temple court of Jerusalem, raising a golden bowl of drink offering as smoke rises. Beside him the priest Urijah tends the fire, looking uneasy. Pushed aside to the edge of the court stands the old bronze altar of the LORD, neglected. Hazy golden late-afternoon light over the temple court. 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.