We know from the documentation of Martin’s life by his friend Ralph Thomas that he was not just frustrated with the RA; he was also displeased with the King. Martin’s dislike for George IV seems to have been both personal and political. Importantly, Martin was not reflexively against all academies or monarchs: he received patronage and gifts from the rulers of Russia, France, and Prussia, and had a longstanding friendship with King Leopold of Belgium.[52] This friendship led him to be bestowed knighthood by the Order of Leopold. Martin also became a member of the lesser-known Academies of Brussels, Antwerp, and Edinburgh.[53] While the extent of his relationships with members of the British royal circle is not entirely clear, Martin was Royal History Painter to Princess Charlotte and a declared supporter of George’s wife, Queen Caroline. He would likely have been invested in the royal family politics, which as we will see were highly divisive around 1820.[54]

Anti-royal sentiments soared in the Regency Era (1795-1837) and deepened after George IV’s coronation in 1821.[55] His predecessor, George III, worked hard to reverse public opinion, through colonial expansion, projects on infrastructure and education, and the establishment of the Royal Academy. As a result, he became quite popular at a time of great uncertainty. Britain’s spatial and temporal proximity to revolutions in Europe and North America had incited a newfound type of unifying patriotism built on the fear of revolutionary chaos. The American Revolution, French Revolution, and Napoleonic Wars caused an increase in public support for a monarchy as a rejection of democracy. George III therefore became the symbol of the nation, which was represented in the popularization of “God Save the King” as the national anthem during and after his reign. When he passed, more than 30,000 people paid their respects, and the British public considered his death as the loss of a father.[56] His overall image was that of a frugal man, a patriarch, and a champion of Britain.

By contrast, George IV did not enjoy much public favor. When George IV was still a prince, “He had set himself up as a leader of fashion and as patron of the latest styles and he aimed to make his house a new Versailles, though on a smaller scale, to glorify his position and the British monarchy.”[57] He became known as a casual perpetrator of many notorious vices, namely lust, greed, and gluttony. At only 18, his father was forced to pay off several of the prince’s mistresses. As time went on, his debt grew due to his gambling, renovations of his estate, and mass-purchasing of clothes and art.[58] Since marriage would increase his income, the prince agreed to wed Caroline, a member of the German nobility, in 1795. At the time of their marriage, Prince George was in 630,000 pounds of debt.[59] Exactly nine months into their marriage, Caroline gave birth to their daughter and only child, Princess Charlotte. Immediately afterwards, both Caroline and George neglected their marriage.[60]

George IV’s reputation worsened in the years leading up to 1820 due to the widespread perception that he mistreated Queen Caroline. In 1807 he attempted to divorce Caroline and void her of her titles, and he harassed her with accusations of infidelity. Seven years later, despite her accepted innocence, George paid her to leave England. She stayed away till 1820, when he assumed his position as king. She returned with the intention to act as his Queen, but George fought her at every turn. More insidiously, the King separated Caroline from their daughter, Charlotte; when Charlotte died in 1817 at the age of 21, the Queen was not informed and had no knowledge of the funeral.  The public shouted “Long Live the Queen” at George while “The Queen Forever, The King in the River” was graffitied in London. That same year, George charged her yet again with infidelity, which became known as the “Trial of Queen Caroline.” Although it was withdrawn by the House of Lords, her public support waned in early 1821 due to her continuous losses in the House of Commons. The public turned on her further when she attempted to enter her husband’s coronation in July of 1821 and was turned away. She passed away one month later, and her death that reengaged the public’s sympathy. [61]

Martin’s resentment of the King appears to have crested in 1821. Ralph Thomas, a close friend of Martin who recorded much of his life, chronicled an incident between Martin and his close friend C.R. Leslie relating to the former’s vocal antipathy to George IV. Thomas notes that this incident took place at “the time when there was a very strong feeling in the country on behalf of Queen Caroline against the King.” [62] He went on to recall that Martin and Leslie,

went to a concert together and when, at the end, the National Anthem was called for and cheered, Martin hissed … and Martin was, characteristically, a partisan of the unfortunate lady [Queen Caroline]. “I hissed more,” he said, ” and hissed at Leslie for cheering, forgetting ‘God save the King’ altogether. Leslie was horrorstruck and fairly ran out of the room. He said to me afterwards that he regretted to have been with me on such an occasion… Leslie was then aiming for the Royal Academy, and soon after got it. This alone was enough to keep me out, for, in a few hours, this incident spread like wildfire, got to the King’s ears, and I was a marked Man.[63]

Since Leslie was aspiring for membership at the Academy, it is possible that he spread this gossip as a way to show loyalty to the Crown, its chief benefactor. Regardless, Martin seemed to have believed that his vocal opposition to the King was directly connected to his exclusion from the Academy. While Thomas did not date this event, clues point to it occurring in 1820. According to the Royal Academy records, Leslie was elected as an Associate Royal Academician in November of 1821.[64] This incident apparently drove a wedge between Martin and Leslie. According to Martin’s son, the artist felt that “…the Academy spoiled many a good man; as now constituted, it lowers and degrades men. Leslie, since he got into the Academy, has kept among them, and aloof from the outside artists.”[65] Martin apparently believed that this event doomed his aspirations for membership in the Academy. That same year, Martin was nominated for membership by an existing member, as per the institution’s policies.[66] It is unclear who put Martin’s name forward, but he received a grand total of zero votes, a circumstance that the artist must have found humiliating.[67] It was around that time that Martin began work on Belshazzar’s Feast.

[52] King Leopold of Belgium was previously the husband to Princess Charlotte.

[53] Pendered,16.

[54] After Martin’s name became known for his Joshua, he developed a friendship with Prince Leopold of Belgium, with whom he once shared lodgings. Both Prince Leopold and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Wales, daughter to George IV and Caroline, became important people in Martin’s life. The couple became patrons of his work, and Martin began to tutor Princess Charlotte, becoming “Historical Landscape Painter to their Royal and Serene Highnesses, the Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold.” Prince Leopold even became the godfather to one of Martin’s sons, who he named Leopold; Pendered, 64-65.

[55] Although the Regency only spanned from 1811 to 1820, the Regency Era is understood to have begun in 1795 and lasted till 1837.

[56] Colley, “The Apotheosis of George III,” 94-99, 102,104.

[57] E. A. Smith, “A Palace for a Prince,” In George IV (Yale University Press, 1999), 25.

[59] Marilyn Morris, “Princely Debt, Public Credit, and Commercial Values in Late Georgian Britain.” Journal of British Studies 43, no. 3 (2004): 342.

[59] Morris, “Princely Debt,” 343; His debt equates to 82,215,000 pounds today or 103,456,023.92 USD.

[60] Thomas w. Laqueur, “The Queen Caroline Affair: Politics as Art in the Reign of George IV.” The Journal of Modern History 54, no. 3 (1982): 418.

[61] Laqueur, “The Queen Caroline Affair,” 418-421, 424, 443.

[62] Pendered, 98.

[63] Pendered, 98. 

[64] “Charles Robert Leslie RA (1794 – 1859),” Royal Academy, November 22, 2024, https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/charles-robert-leslie-ra#:~:text=Leslie%20was%20elected%20as%20an,full%20membership%20following%20in%201826.; Thomas’s description of Martin as a partisan of Queen Caroline along with his indication of the peak of the Queen Caroline Affair, proves that the event must have occurred before 1821 when her support began to dwindle.

[65] Pendered,  93-94, 96.

[66] Tom Jeffreys. “How do Academicians get elected?” Royal Academy, 6 March 2014, https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-do-academicians-get-elected

[67] William Feaver, and John Martin. The Art of John Martin (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), 24.