“No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear....whatever is terrible, therefore, with regard to sight, is sublime, too." John Martin was a 19th century English painter, illustrator and engraver. He often featured melodramatic scenes of apocalyptic events taken from the Bible and other mythological sources. John was first apprenticed by his father which was where he was inspired to create art. While attending school at the Royal Academy he later got married at the age of 19 years old. To support himself financially,he gave drawing lessons to the public. In his early life he primarily focused on watercolors but after sending his first oil painting to the Royal academy and getting declined, he
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only don't tell anyone I said so." With the addition of emotion, detail, color, and religion, John was sought to be a romanticism painter. Many of his paintings included immense detail and a vast range of colors. While the models in his paintings were never identified, they often symbolized religious subjects such as Angels. Innocence was also portrayed in those characters. One of the things Martin was most famous for was his ability to capture the power of nature. As shown in his most talked about painting, The Great Day of His Wrath. He illustrates the apocalyptic force of nature and the helplessness of man to combat God's will. Like all of Martin's biblical scenes, this presents his vision of destruction, featuring an entire city being torn up and thrown into the abyss. His use of dramatic lighting adds to the picture. As quoted, “There was a great earthquake' and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; |And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. | And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” The billowing clouds in the scene cast a mysterious feeling while the innocence of man topples away from the great force of nature. This piece of work perfectly demonstrates John Martin’s style. It also correlates with
only don't tell anyone I said so." With the addition of emotion, detail, color, and religion, John was sought to be a romanticism painter. Many of his paintings included immense detail and a vast range of colors. While the models in his paintings were never identified, they often symbolized religious subjects such as Angels. Innocence was also portrayed in those characters. One of the things Martin was most famous for was his ability to capture the power of nature. As shown in his most talked about painting, The Great Day of His Wrath. He illustrates the apocalyptic force of nature and the helplessness of man to combat God's will. Like all of Martin's biblical scenes, this presents his vision of destruction, featuring an entire city being torn up and thrown into the abyss. His use of dramatic lighting adds to the picture. As quoted, “There was a great earthquake' and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; |And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. | And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” The billowing clouds in the scene cast a mysterious feeling while the innocence of man topples away from the great force of nature. This piece of work perfectly demonstrates John Martin’s style. It also correlates with