John Martin

British, 1789 - 1854

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English painter, engraver and illustrator (1789–1854)

Explore Selected Works

John Martin, Gleaners in the Wheat Field, 1847, watercolor with gouache on wove paper, Paul Mellon Collection, 1986.72.11

Gleaners in the Wheat Field

John Martin · 1847 · watercolor with gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1986.72.11

John Martin, View on the River Wye, Looking towards Chepstow, 1844, watercolor, gouache, and touches of oil paint (?) over graphite with scraping out, heightened with varnish and/or gum arabic, on wove paper, Gift of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1990.87.1

View on the River Wye, Looking towards Chepstow

John Martin · 1844 · watercolor, gouache, and touches of oil paint (?) over graphite with scraping out, heightened with varnish and/or gum arabic, on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1990.87.1

John Martin, Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still, 1827, mezzotint and etching in black and brownish black on chine collé [proof], Gaillard F. Ravenel and Frances P. Smyth-Ravenel Fund, 2002.65.3

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still

John Martin · 1827 · mezzotint and etching in black and brownish black on chine collé [proof] ·  Accession ID  2002.65.3

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Paradise Lost (volume II)

John Martin, John Milton · 1827 · bound volume with text and mezzotints on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1979.68.2

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Paradise Lost (volume I)

John Martin, John Milton · 1827 · bound volume with text and mezzotints on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1979.68.1

John Martin, Belshazzar's Feast, 1826, hand-colored mixed media intaglio, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Benedict, 1978.86.5

Belshazzar's Feast

John Martin · 1826 · hand-colored mixed media intaglio ·  Accession ID  1978.86.5

Armies of men march and battle along a rocky outcropping set among huge rock formations and massive buildings under a stormy sky in this horizontal landscape painting. The people we can see all have pale skin. Sheets of rain fall from flint-gray clouds on our left into a valley, though hints of peach brighten the clouds along the mountainous horizon there. In the right half of the sky, light pours down from a brilliant white sun that breaks through white clouds to reveal topaz-blue patches of sky. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition and is lined with rugged white, pale pink, and olive-green mountains on our left and silvery-white buildings along the right half. These structures include two domed buildings and a colosseum among many others. The buildings are all enclosed within city walls buttressed with towers. The land dips precipitously from the rocky cliffs supporting the buildings, to sweep down toward us. A huge outcropping angles up like a ramp between us and the buildings in the distance. A road runs from the walled town toward us, down along the ridge and in front of the outcropping. Countless warriors march in rows of four or five across on the road past a man wearing a feathered helmet and armored breastplate. This man, Joshua, stands on a rocky precipice facing away from us with his right hand raised. He wears a scarlet-red toga under his breastplate, and a royal-blue cape flutters at his left side. He holds a round, copper-colored shield and a spear in his other hand. Two men with gray beards stand near Joshua with their backs to us. Both gesture up to the sky. One holds a slender staff and the other a curling horn. They and another pair of men, who stoop to hold poles used to carry a chest, all wear long, ivory-white robes, cherry-red drapery, and white turbans. The column of soldiers on foot and horseback pass in front of Joshua to a massive battlefield to our left. The fight takes place in a valley that leads back to a river. A bolt of lightning zigzags from the storm clouds and strikes a city in the deep distance. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, “J. Martin.”
John Martin, Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, 1816, oil on canvas, Paul Mellon Fund, 2004.64.1

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon

John Martin · 1816 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2004.64.1