Apocalypse Then - John Martin's monumental paintings

Hello Dear Steemit Friends ! Today I would like to present you John Martin (1789-1854) , Romantic painter of history and landscape. His paintings rely on a theatrical grandeur of scale, vast mountains, monumental architectural complexes and lowering clouds purposely dwarfing his small figures. He favoured dark bituminous paintwork enlivened by bright transparent colours.

'' Pandemonium '', oil on canvas , Louvre Museum Paris , Image Source

'' The Great Day of His Wrath '', oil on canvas , Tate Britain , Image Source

Martin was immensely successful in his lifetime and his work became widely known through his engravings. He was apprenticed to a coach painter in Newcastle, and then to Boniface Musso, an Italian artist. Martin moved to London in 1806 and worked first as a decorator of glass and porcelain. From 1811 he exhibited at the Royal Academy.

'' The Destruction of Pompei and Herculaneum '', oil on canvas , Tate Britain , Image Source

Martin was appointed Historical Landscape Painter to Prince Leopold and Princess Charlotte – after Leopold became king of Belgium, he exhibited “The Fall of Nineveh” in Brussels, becoming a member of the Brussels Academy and receiving the Order of Leopold. His work was also admired in France. An eccentric, he was nearly ruined in the 1830s by his projects to improve London's water and sewerage system. His vast “Coronation of The Queen Victoria” marked the restoration of his fortunes. His three “Judgment” pictures, first exhibited the year after his death, toured England and America for twenty years.

'' The Coronation of Queen Victoria '', oil on canvas , Tate Britain , Image Source

'' The Last Judgement '', oil on canvas , Tate Britain , Image Source

'' The Plains of Heaven '', oil on canvas , Tate Britain , Image Source

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