John Martin - Painting the Apocalypse

Sheffield's Millennium Gallery heralded a surprise for me today - a free (and impressively big) exhibition of paintings by British Romantic painter, John Martin. Entitled "Painting the Apocalypse", it showcases Martin's work which depicts the end of days, often with strong Biblical undertones.

I had never heard of John Martin, but it sounded interesting, so in I went. I was simply astounded by the magnificence of his paintings and sketches, not to mention the scale of some of them. The light, the colout. Epic proportions. I never associated the Romantic movement with apocalyptic imagery – paintings well out of their time! Absolutely wonderful - I'm going back for a second, more in-depth look.

John Martin: "The Great Day of His Wrath" (1851-3)