Oriental themes and Art of John Martin

Abstract

The subject of the article is an English tradition of co-relation between new oriental themes and fine arts in Britain after the Napoleonic wars. The Heritage of the romantic painter John Martin (1789–1854) is analyzed as a continuation of that tradition in the first half of the 19th century as development of a new topic
in western art — the reconstructions of the ancient Assyrian cities. The article shed light on innovation of Martin’s paintings inspired by the images of English “oriental” literature of the 18th century by James Ridley (1736–1765) “Tales of the genii” (1764) and William Beckford (1799–1834) “Vathek” (1786). In addition, it reveals the connection between the “Arabic legend” of Beckford’s novel and a new concept of Satan’s underworld in the Martin’s illustrations for “Paradise Lost”. The artist’s compositions were inspired not only by Milton’s text by also by “Vathek”. The article discusses not only the problems associated with the reassessing of the value of English artist for the art process of XIX century and talking about the phenomenon of the universality of John Martin’s talent, but also outlines some of the areas for further researches.

Keywords:

English art, John Martin, English literature, James Ridley, “Tales of the genii”, “Sadak in search of the waters of Oblivion”, Babylon architecture, “The fall of Babylon”, “Belshazzar’s feast”, “Adam and Eve entertaining the angel Raphael”, Milton, “Paradise Lost”, Sezincote, Fonthill Abbey, “Vathek”, William Beckford, “The seventh plague of Egypt”, Edward Irving, “The fall of Nineveh”