The bard by john martin

History paintings ere then considered as the grand style of painting even though these paintings never really caught on in the British market, mainly due to their huge dimensions. On the contrary, landscape was considered a low genre. Despite these impediments, both of them had successful careers and raised landscape to the height of historical paintings. Another characteristic both painters shared was the inclusion of the Sublime in their art, which was very popular at the time. According to E. Burke’s definition, the Sublime focuses on darkness, vastness, magnificence, loudness and denseness.
I will analyze how when commenting on the painting The Bard. Turner’s paintings had greatly Impressed Martin but their approach to historical paintings was quite different. They both portrayed grandiose representations of history and told stories about the Immensity of nature compared with the smallness of men. But when Turner was more interested in fate and how men were powerless in the immensity of nature,John Martin oriented his works towards the Divine and the representation of grand biblical themes inspired by the Old Testament.
John Martin’s paintings were mainly based on religious and fantastic subjects. His most celebrated works were “Pallbearer’s Feast”, “The Great day of his Wrath”, the “Destruction of Stood and Sonogram” or the Seven Plagues of Egypt”, amongst others. The Bard does not belong to this category but is still one representation of his conception of his art. It Is based on ancient British history. Martin’s Bard was first exhibited In 1817 and Is an Illustration off poem, the Bard, written In 1757 by Thomas Gray.

The mom tells the story of the last surviving bard In Wales who climbed above a swirling river after Edward I and the English troops defeated the country. Martin Is telling us almost word for word the same story. This is both a poetical painting as the bard was the official poet of the ruler and his court and a political painting portraying the king and his troops. This painting is huge in size (it is over 2 meters high). The story told is divided by the river which creates a chasm between the two halves of the minting, one with its chiaroscuro side with the bard overcoming the other side with the military.
In the left foreground the dwarfed figures of the king and his soldiers overpowered by the castle which despite the defeat still stands erect. On the right- hand side, there are rocky cliffs, on top of which the bard stands erect immobile on his two feet, proudly holding his harp. His also being In the foreground but so much higher conveys the moral disparity between the two parties. His left hand points towards the sky, the bard Is the prophet who he Is telling the king that punishment ill come, not through human hands but through the Delve.
There are hardly any warm tones, only some dark red on the figures, linking them, there is no doubt that atmosphere and adds to the tragedy of the story told. Although the figures are important in order to tell the story, the landscape is the focus of the story, it is the drama that overpowers all other impressions. The wild, chaotic landscape with its spectacular effects, the vastness of the scale and the power of the noble bard give a full representation of the sublime.
Also, we, as risers, are safe but, like the soldiers, we are compelled to look up at the Bard and the Divine could also destroy us. We have great admiration for the Bard who, we know, will commit suicide, but we also fear what fate has in store for us. Although John Martin’s paintings gradually fell into oblivion after his death, his paintings have recently been exhibited and commented upon. His works have inspired many film makers and he is now considered a cinematic painter. One example is C. B. De Mille, Moses in his film “the Ten Commandments” has a striking resemblance with the Bard.