“The Last Judgement”
Oh, the sublime!
“The Last Judgement” is an intense and large-scale oil on canvas painting made by the English Romantic artist, John Martin, from 1853. This painting is the central piece of a three-part series that Martin made just one year before his death. The three large-scale paintings each depict scenes from the Book of Revelations. They are often considered his finest works.
“The Last Judgement” depicts the central judgment scene as it was written in Biblical passages. Near the top of the painting, God is seated on his throne of judgement next to the 24 elders, all adorned in white with crowns of gold. The Seventh Seal has been broken and angels are sounding their trumpets.
On the bottom right, Martin depicts the defeated followers of Satan as they fall into a bottomless pit. They include those who sought only wealth and whose virtues have been compromised. On the left are the faithful followers on Mount Zion awaiting their ascent into heaven. These include innocent women and children, as well as philosophers and artists. A deep chasm lies between the good and evil.
Martin painted this piece along with “The Great Day of his Wrath” and “The Plains of Heaven” between 1851 and 1853, completing the series just one year before his death. In 1853, John Martin suffered a stroke from which he never recovered. He died in 1854 at 64 years of age.
Martin had intended for this series of paintings to tour and created a pamphlet to accompany them. After his death in 1854 through to the 1870s, the paintings traveled to viewers across the world, including Europe, the United States, and Australia. Prints and engraved copies of the series were sold to the public during their tour, making the works more accessible and increasing their popularity.
In 1855, a key was made to accompany the paintings on tour. It identifies the 40 specific characters that Martin depicted as either good or evil. Notable historic and literary figures include Dante, Thomas More, Michelangelo, William Shakespeare, and Isaac Newton as good and righteous. Those that are represented as evil include Herodias’s daughter (Salome), the whore of Babylon, lawyers, and rich corrupt church elders.
“The Last Judgement” is currently in the collections of the Tate Britain in London, England.
For more on John Martin, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
