Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

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John Martin 1789 – 1854

 

With John Martin we have come a long way from Caravaggio, but one may still detect in the intensely dramatic use of light and darkness the echo of his legacy. Like me, Martin came from the North East of England.

 

His subjects are invariably apocalyptic. Babylon falls, as do Sodom and Gomorrah, and Jericho. The Last Trump sounds, and Judgement comes. I think his paintings are quite astonishing - his mezzotints even more so. At times these black and white images are genuinely creepy, and anticipate symbolism and surrealism by a full century. They would not look out of place on the early cover of Weird Tales, and in a strange way Martin even anticipates cinema.

 

Armageddon? Michael Bay has nothing on this guy!

 

Watch and see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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