Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still

1827

John Martin

Associated Names
John Martin

Artist, British, 1789 - 1854

This grayscale print showcases a landscape with a city or palaces stretching across jagged mountains under a dramatic stormy sky. The buildings are enormous, with huge domes, layers of wide columns, and fortified walls. A huge conflict is occurring in the bottom left corner, with countless people, horses, and some animals that look like elephants. There are rows of tents in the background, in front of a hilly landscape filled with trees. Processions of people stream down the mountains from the large buildings on the right side of the print, some marching and some on horseback, all carrying tall weapons. They head towards the conflict in the bottom left. In the center of the print, towards the bottom, a group of people stand on a rocky ledge overlooking the battle. One person stands with their back to us and one arm outstretched to the sky. A ray of bright light shines on them from a break in the thick, dark clouds. This figure wears a tunic and helmet, and has a shield and sword trapped on their back.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    mezzotint and etching in black and brownish black on chine collé [proof]

  • Credit Line

    Gaillard F. Ravenel and Frances P. Smyth-Ravenel Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 57.1 x 77.8 cm (22 1/2 x 30 5/8 in.)
    sheet: 57.6 x 78.8 cm (22 11/16 x 31 in.)
    overall (mat size): 66 x 86.4 cm (26 x 34 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2002.65.3

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Balston 1947, Vol. 281, no. 6


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Christopher Lennox-Boyd; (C. G. Boerner Limited, New York); purchased 2002 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2006

  • The Artist's Vision: Romantic Traditions in Great Britain, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2006 - 2007

Bibliography

1947

  • Balston, Thomas. John Martin, 1789 - 1854 London, 1947.

2002

  • C.G. Boerner. English Mezzotints from the Lennox-Boyd Collection. New York, 2002: no. 79.

Inscriptions

lower left in plate: PAINTED & ENGRAVED BY JOHN MARTIN; lower center in plate: London Published May 9 1827. by Mr. Martin, 30, Allsops Buildings, New Road

Wikidata ID

Q76346321

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