[{"id":394,"date":"2025-05-05T03:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=394"},"modified":"2025-05-07T15:01:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T15:01:12","slug":"bibliography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/bibliography\/","title":{"rendered":"Bibliography"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bibliography<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/03\/cropped-Olivias-Logo.png” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”102px” custom_margin=”-39px|||||” custom_padding=”|975px||||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/c188zain5ee122e2j18f0\/Paradise-Lost-1.png?rlkey=wwsptv64kkitra3kj9flybzzs&st=41k5wzhk&raw=1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”138.5px” custom_margin=”-165px|-90px||104px||” custom_padding=”0px|6px|0px|697px|false|false”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_divider color=”#f4eabe” divider_style=”double” divider_weight=”8px” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”-55px||-12px|||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#f4eabe” text_font_size=”24px”]<\/p>\n

Secondary Sources<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_text_color=”#f4eabe” text_font_size=”24px” inline_fonts=”Bentham”]<\/p>\n

Anguix-Vilches, Laia. \u201cRediscovering John Martin: Collecting the Apocalypse in Post-War Britain.\u201d Journal of the History of Collections<\/em> 36, no. 1 (2024): 179\u201392.<\/span><\/p>\n

Campbell, Michael J. \u201cJohn Martin as a commercial printmaker.\u201d in John Martin: Apocalypse, <\/em>edited by Martin Myrone. London: Tate Pub., 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colley, Linda. \u201cThe Apotheosis of George III: Loyalty, Royalty and the British Nation 1760-1820.\u201d\u00a0Past & Present<\/em>, no. 102 (1984): 94\u2013129.<\/span><\/p>\n

Costello, Leo. \u201c\u2018This Cross-Fire of Colours\u2019: JMW Turner (1775-1851) and the Varnishing Days Reconsidered.\u201d\u00a0The British Art Journal<\/em>\u00a010, no. 3 (2009): 56\u201368.<\/span><\/p>\n

Costello, Leo, and J. M. W. Turner. J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History.<\/em> Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dart, Gregory. \u201cOn Great and Little Things: Cockney Art in the 1820s.\u201d Romanticism<\/em> 14, no. 2 (2008): 149\u201367.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feaver, William, and John Martin. The Art of John Martin<\/em>. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hauptman, William. \u201cBefore Somerset House: The Royal Academy in Pall Mall.\u201d The British Art Journal<\/em> 17, no. 1 (2016): 22\u201342.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hemingway, Andrew. \u201cThe Politics of Style: Allston\u2019s and Martin\u2019s Belshazzars Compared.\u201d In <\/span>Transatlantic Romanticism: British and American Art and Literature, 1790-1860<\/i>, edited by Andrew Hemingway and Alan Wallach, 122\u201343. University of Massachusetts Press, 2015.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hoock, Holger.\u00a0The King\u2019s Artists<\/em>: The Royal Academy of Arts and the Politics of British Culture, 1760-1840. <\/em>Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hutchison, Sidney C. \u201cThe Royal Academy Schools, 1768-1830.\u201d\u00a0The Volume of the Walpole Society<\/em>\u00a038 (1960): 123\u201391.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeffreys, Tom. \u201cHow do Academicians get elected?\u201d Royal Academy, Published March 6, 2014. https:\/\/www.royalacademy.org.uk\/article\/how-do-academicians-get-elected<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knight, Caroline. \u201cThe History of the Building.\u201d The British Art Journal<\/em> 2, no. 2 (2000): 6\u201313.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laqueur, Thomas W. \u201cThe Queen Caroline Affair: Politics as Art in the Reign of George IV.\u201d The Journal of Modern History<\/em> 54, no. 3 (1982): 417\u201366.<\/span><\/p>\n

Morden, Barbara C. John Martin: Apocalypse Now!<\/em> Newcastle Upon Tyne: Northumbria University Press, 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

Morgan, H. C. \u201cThe Lost Opportunity of the Royal Academy: An Assessment of Its Position in the Nineteenth Century.\u201d Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes<\/em> 32, (1969): 410\u201320.<\/span><\/p>\n

Morris, Marilyn. \u201cPrincely Debt, Public Credit, and Commercial Values in Late Georgian Britain.\u201d\u00a0Journal of British Studies<\/em>\u00a043, no. 3 (2004): 339\u201365.<\/span><\/p>\n

Myrone, Martin, ed. John Martin: Apocalypse.<\/em> London: Tate Pub., 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

O’Keefe, Paul. A Genius for Failure: The Life of Benjamin Robert Haydon<\/em>. London: The Bodley Head, 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pendered, Mary L.\u00a0John Martin, Painter: His Life and Times.\u00a0<\/em>England: Hurst & Blackett, 1923.<\/p>\n

Roach, Catherine. “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions: Venues, Artists, and Audiences in Early Nineteenth-Century London “, British Art Studies, Issue 14. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17658\/issn.2058-5462\/issue-14\/croach<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Roach, Catherine. “Rehanging Reynolds at the British Institution: Methods for Reconstructing Ephemeral Displays”, British Art Studies, Issue 4, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17658\/issn.2058-5462\/issue-04\/croach<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Royal Academy of Arts. \u201cCharles Robert Leslie RA (1794 – 1859).\u201d Accessed 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<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal Academy of Arts. \u201cJohn Constable RA (1776 \u2013 1837).\u201d Accessed April 2, 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/www.royalacademy.org.uk\/art-artists\/name\/john-constable-ra<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith, E.A. \u201cA Palace for a Prince.\u201d In George IV<\/em>, 25\u201332. Yale University Press, 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith, E.A. \u201cPrince Regent.\u201d In George IV<\/em>, 132\u201345. Yale University Press, 1999.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith, Thomas. Recollections of the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom: With Some Account of the Means Employed for That Purpose; and Biographical Notices of Artists Who Have Received Premiums, 1805-1859.<\/em> \u00a0London: Simpkin & Marshal, 1860.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tate. \u201cAbout us.\u201d Accessed April 2, 2025. https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/about-us<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tate. \u201cJohn Martin.\u201d Accessed April 4, 2025. https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/artists\/john-martin-371<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tate. \u201cHistory Painting.\u201d Accessed April 26, 2025. https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/art-terms\/h\/history-painting<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Waterhouse, E. K. \u201cBenjamin Robert Haydon\u2019s \u2018Dentatus.\u2019\u201d\u00a0The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs<\/em>\u00a088, no. 520 (1946): 175\u201377.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Primary Sources<\/span><\/p>\n

Aris’s Birmingham Gazette<\/em>, England.<\/span><\/p>\n

The British Newspaper Archive. \u201cMorning Chronicle.\u201d Accessed April 2, 2025. https:\/\/www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk\/titles\/morning-chronicle#:~:text=Dickens%20worked%20for%20this%20publication,90<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Caledonian Mercury<\/em>, Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cook, E.T. and Alexander Wedderburn, eds. Early Pros Writings, vol.1, The Works of John Ruskin. <\/em>London: George Allen,1903.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Examiner,<\/em> England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Felix Farley\u2019s Bristol Journal<\/em>, England.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Leeds Mercury<\/em>, England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leslie, C.R. \u201cMemoirs of the life of John Constable, esq., R. A.: Composed Chiefly of his Letters\u201d London: James Carpenter, 1843.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Martin, John. \u201cMr. John Martin,\u201d The Illustrated London News<\/em>. March 17, 1849, 176-177.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin, John. The Athenaeum<\/em>. London: British Periodicals Ltd, 1834, 459.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morning Chronicle, <\/em>England.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pope, Willard Bissell, ed. 1825-1832, vol.3, The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon. <\/em>Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trench, Melesina Chenevix St. George. The remains of the late Mrs. Richard Trench<\/em>, edited by Richard\u00a0 \u00a0 Chenevix Trench. London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, 1862.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Figure 2. John Martin,\u00a0Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(half-size copy), 1820, oil on canvas, 80 x 120.7 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_margin=”0px|auto|0px|auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” width=”100%” custom_padding=”27px|51px|24px|50px||false”]<\/p>\n

In 1821, John Martin exhibited Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>(1820; figure 1) at the British Institution\u2019s annual exhibition.<\/span>[1]<\/span><\/a> This large-scale history painting, Martin\u2019s second work in his trilogy on Mesopotamian themes, depicts a story from the Biblical book of Daniel, chapters 5:1 to 6:1. <\/span>\u00a0<\/em>The painting depicts Belshazzar, King of Babylon and successor to Nebuchadnezzar, holding a grand feast in his palace. This lavish banquet angers God, as Belshazzar serves wine in cups he stole from a sacred Jewish temple. Suddenly, God\u2019s disembodied hand appears in the sky and writes a cryptic death sentence for Belshazzar that only the prophet Daniel, pictured at the center of Martin\u2019s work, can decipher. Martin depicts the moment after God\u2019s hand has disappeared. Belshazzar\u2019s attendants feverishly try to understand God\u2019s words as masses of banquet attendees rush toward the exit. This scene is set in an apocalyptic landscape, with stormy skies brewing above, and a spectacular lightning bolt that would go on to become Martin\u2019s painterly trademark. The picture, which immerses viewers in this dramatic story, met with immediate success amongst the general public. It was visited by so many people that the Institution placed a barrier to protect it from the crowds, and awarded Martin a prize of two hundred guineas for best picture of the year, propelling him to celebrity status.<\/span>[2]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>However, the picture\u2019s debut also spelled the demise of Martin\u2019s relationship with the Royal Academy of Arts, then the dominant art institution in Britain.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this capstone, I argue that Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> critiques King George IV by implicitly comparing Britain\u2019s notoriously frivolous reigning monarch to the impious figure depicted in the painting. Such an unflattering comparison tallies with Martin\u2019s well-known hostility to George IV, which stemmed from his connections to Queen Caroline, the King\u2019s estranged wife, whom he had exiled and whose title he had infamously tried to revoke. Moreover, I contend that Martin\u2019s anti-authoritarian statement extended to the Royal Academy (henceforth RA), an elitist institution whose power stemmed from its connection to the Crown, and whose members enjoyed privileges at its annual exhibitions to the detriment of non-members like Martin. In that regard, I take it as significant that Martin chose to exhibit Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> at the British Institution (hereafter BI), which, unlike the RA, did not enjoy official royal support. \u00a0With the exhibition of Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> at the BI in 1821, Martin made a definitive break from the Royal Academy, a decision that would ultimately put the artist at the margins of the British canon. <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”23px||0px||false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”90.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_divider color=”#f4eabe” divider_style=”double” divider_weight=”14px” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”13.7px” custom_padding=”||||false|false”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_margin=”0px|auto|0px|auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”76.5%” min_height=”1292.2px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”justify” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”101.2%” custom_margin=”-30px|0px||0px|false|false” custom_padding=”|53px||48px|false|false”]<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s place in the public consciousness and scholarly literature has fluctuated since his explosion to fame in the 1820s. During his career, he was phenomenally popular, but also had many detractors: Royal Academicians, art critics, and connoisseurs undermined his success with the public and criticized his painterly techniques. John Ruskin, the foremost British art critic of the period, denigrated Martin as a \u201cworkman,\u201d stating that he did not even consider him a painter.<\/span>[3]<\/span><\/a> By the time of Martin\u2019s death in 1854, his reputation had fizzled out; this decline paralleled the loss of status for history painting, in favor of other genres, such as landscape.<\/span>[4]<\/span><\/a> It was not until over 70 years later that interest in the artist was reignited with the publication of two major biographies, Mary Pendered\u2019s John Martin, Painter: His Life and Times <\/em>(1924) and Thomas Balston\u2019s John Martin (1789-1954): His Life and Works <\/em>(1945). These authors both sought to restore Martin to prominence alongside his more renowned contemporaries John Constable and Joseph Mallord William Turner, and to emphasize his elevated position as Royal History painter to Princess Charlotte.<\/span><\/p>\n

The turn of the 21st<\/sup> century witnessed a scholarly \u201crediscovery\u201d of Martin that underscored his contributions to British Romanticism, which led museums\u2014most prominently, the Tate\u2014to collect and exhibit his work.<\/span>[5]<\/span><\/a> After the Tate Modern separated from the Tate Britain in 2000, the latter\u2019s goal was to cultivate a comprehensive view of British art from the 1500s onward, part of which entailed the recovery of underappreciated artists, including Martin.<\/span>[6]<\/span><\/a> In 2011, the Tate staged the exhibition \u201cJohn Martin: Apocalypse,\u201d the artist\u2019s first major retrospective, which included the original version of Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em>, on loan from a private collection. <\/span>Along with Barbara Morden\u2019s related monograph John Martin: Apocalypse Now!<\/em> (2010), the exhibition catalogue, edited by Martin Myrone, contextualized Martin\u2019s work and reputation within the socio-political context of Georgian Britain. Both of these texts strive to resuscitate Martin\u2019s career, making a case for the importance and relevance of his \u201capocalyptic\u201d history paintings to nineteenth century audiences and modern media. Morden focuses on the sublimity of his works in relation to the public\u2019s interest in <\/span>apocalypse and social upheaval during the first half of the nineteenth century. Relatedly, <\/span>Myrone argues that Martin\u2019s value as an artist may have been minimized due to his entanglements with both \u201chigh\u201d and \u201clow\u201d art. Together, these authors aim to overturn art-historical biases against \u201cpopular\u201d artists, works, and genres. <\/span><\/p>\n

Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em><\/span> plays a key role in Morden\u2019s reading of the way that Martin reinvented history painting by infusing it with the Burkean sublime. She argues that Martin\u2019s biblical subjects resonated with contemporary viewers who vigilantly looked for signs of an apocalypse that they assumed was imminent.<\/span>[7]<\/span><\/a> This eager awaiting of an apocalypse was rooted in the idea that social upheaval would topple the social and economic elites and benefit the lower classes. Morden posits that the viewing public would have connected the subject of Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> to recent events, including George IV\u2019s coronation feast and the famine spurred by the passage of the infamous Corn Laws (1815-1846)<\/span>.<\/span>[8]<\/span><\/a> Where Morden interprets Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> as a protest of the Corn Laws and their impact on the working class, I argue that the painting was intended as a broader critique of George IV and of the power wielded by the Royal Academy. My analysis depends in large part on Martin\u2019s own account of these events in an autobiographical text published in The Illustrated London News<\/em> in 1849, which illuminates the artist\u2019s attitudes toward the Crown and RA. Morden presumes that viewers would draw connections on their own between Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>and George IV; my position, buttressed by Martin\u2019s text and other primary sources, is that the artist himself encouraged such a reading of his painting.<\/span>[9]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”0px|||||” custom_margin=”-16px|||||”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_margin=”-2px|auto||auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” width=”82.8%”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/john_martin_tate_britain_0_1.width-1200.jpg” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”-13px|-2px||||” custom_padding=”35px||12px|62px||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||0px|||” custom_margin=”|auto||auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-117px|||||” custom_padding=”|50px||50px||”]<\/p>\n

Insofar as it investigates <\/span>Martin\u2019s relations to the RA and BI, this capstone <\/span>also adds to the conversation spearheaded by Catherine Roach and Leo Costello on the competitive \u201cecosystem\u201d of exhibition culture in early nineteenth-century Britain.<\/span>[10]<\/span><\/a> In his 2016 book J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History,<\/em> Costello uses Turner\u2019s behavior at the \u201cVarnishing Days\u201d held just before the opening of Royal Academy exhibitions to consider how the cutthroat atmosphere within the RA mirrored the competition for resources that resulted from Britain\u2019s laissez-faire economic policies.<\/span>[11]<\/span><\/a> As Costello notes, Turner took advantage of his ability, as a member of the RA, to apply paint to his works after they had been hung in the exhibition: by making a spectacle of himself painting in the galleries, Turner gained in notoriety at the expense of other exhibitors. Roach\u2019s essay, \u201cThe Ecosystem of Exhibitions: Venues, Artists, and Audiences in Early Nineteenth-Century London\u201d (2019) builds upon Costello\u2019s insights by tracing several artists\u2019 decisions about where to show their work. Her analysis reveals how the conditions of display influenced the ways artists navigated the complex exhibition system. My analysis is indebted to these scholars\u2019 depictions of the art world as a complex intertwining of artists, art institutions, and the political sphere. John Martin\u2019s choices in navigating a contentious art world broaden our understanding of the consequences of artmaking and exhibition in a highly social and political institutional space. <\/span><\/p>\n

To clarify Martin\u2019s complex, fraught relationship with the Royal Academy, analysis of both Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>and Martin\u2019s choice of exhibition venue are crucial. In sections one and two, I establish the dynamics of the Royal Academy and the British Institution, how they differ and how the Academy could make or break an artist\u2019s career. Martin\u2019s experience with the Royal Academy as a young artist set up the tumultuous relationship that led to the 1821 show, which was the culmination of a decade\u2019s worth of exhausting exhibitions, a growing distaste for the establishment, and social backlash. In section three, I examine the public\u2019s perception of George IV and discuss what we know about Martin\u2019s political attitudes. I then turn back to the painting, showing through visual analysis and historical context that it deliberately compares George IV with Belshazzar. Finally, I suggest that the decline of Martin\u2019s critical reputation was a consequence of this painting\u2019s opposition to the King and the RA, resulting in his exclusion from the canon. Ultimately, my investigation indicates that an artist\u2019s perceived status both during their lifetime and afterward is often a matter of their successful navigation of existing artistic institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” custom_margin=”-17px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/table.png” custom_margin=”-167px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||321px|||”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||24px|||” custom_margin=”21px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”400.5px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”14px” background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”1021.4px” custom_margin=”-73px|||||” custom_padding=”16px|||||”]<\/p>\n

[1]<\/span><\/a> The originally exhibited piece was 160 x 249 centimeters. This work is held by a private collection and is rarely shown. When Martin made this large-scale original, he also made two smaller copies. One of which is a half-size copy is held by the Yale Center for British Arts in New Haven, Connecticut (figure 2). The copies are nearly identical, barring some small changes to the figures and to the overall saturation of the work.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/span><\/a> Mary L. Pendered, John Martin, Painter: His Life and Times<\/em> (England: Hurst & Blackett, 1923), 102.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/span><\/a> Martin Myrone, ed, John Martin: Apocalypse <\/em>(London: Tate Pub., 2011),13.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/span><\/a> \u201cHistory Painting,\u201d Tate, Accessed April 26, 2025, https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/art-terms\/h\/history-painting<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0Laia\u00a0Anguix-Vilches,\u00a0\u201cRediscovering John Martin: Collecting the Apocalypse in Post-War Britain.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Journal of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the History of Collections<\/em><\/span>\u00a036, no. 1 (2024): 180.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/span><\/a> \u201cAbout us,\u201d\u00a0Tate, Accessed April 2, 2025,\u00a0https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/about-us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/span><\/a> Barbara C. Morden, John Martin: Apocalypse Now!<\/em> (Newcastle Upon Tyne: Northumbria University Press, 2010), 38-40.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/span><\/a> Morden, John Martin, <\/em>29, 39-40; The Corn Laws were trade restrictive laws meant to increase the reliance on domestic food producers. It raised the prices of domestic food which severely negatively affected the working class while increasing profits for the upper class.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/span><\/a> Specifically, Gregory Dart and Barbara Morden decenter Martin\u2019s intent and focus on the audience\u2019s associations.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Catherine Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions: Venues, Artists, and Audiences in Early Nineteenth-Century London “, British Art Studies<\/em>, Issue 14. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17658\/issn.2058-5462\/issue-14\/croach<\/a><\/p>\n

[9]<\/span><\/a> Leo Costello and J. M. W. Turner. J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History.<\/em> Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2012.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Catherine Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions: Venues, Artists, and Audiences in Early Nineteenth-Century London “, British Art Studies<\/em>, Issue 14. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17658\/issn.2058-5462\/issue-14\/croach<\/a><\/p>\n

[11]<\/span><\/a> Leo Costello and J. M. W. Turner. J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History.<\/em> Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2012.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”55px||10px|2px||” custom_margin=”|257px|7px|202px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_enable_image=”off” min_height=”328.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/Introduction-6.png” custom_margin=”-82px|||39px||” custom_padding=”||171px||false|false”][\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-05-at-1.04.15\u202fAM.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_width_all=”6px” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” border_style_all=”double” custom_margin=”-122px|-12px||||” custom_padding=”68px|2px||0px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#f4eabe” text_font_size=”24px”] Figure 2. John Martin,\u00a0Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0(half-size copy), 1820, oil on canvas, 80 x 120.7 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|false|false” custom_margin=”0px|auto|0px|auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-352","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":331,"date":"2025-05-04T04:09:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T04:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=331"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:39:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:39:41","slug":"painting-the-king-and-his-sycophants","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/painting-the-king-and-his-sycophants\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting the King and his Sycophants"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”266px|||||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”0px||3px|||” custom_margin=”-228px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/sno71eh2tz7h45g2943gl\/Martin-portrait.jpg?rlkey=yf2jiimmvbfpnjzoci7xbyxmm&st=zr403s8x&raw=1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_width_all=”7px” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” border_style_all=”double” custom_padding=”1px|||||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#f4eabe” text_font_size=”24px” min_height=”142.1px” custom_padding=”0px|||||”]<\/p>\n

Henry Warren,\u00a0John Martin<\/em>, oil on panel,\u00a026.7 x 21.6 cm, National Portrait Gallery, London.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/d4tmwfg8dqq8jdc3b2rtg\/Painting-the-King-and-his-Sycophants-copy.png?rlkey=r3vmjbar5wrc9tfiusr9psppi&st=h3oasuap&raw=1″ show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”111%” max_width=”121%” module_alignment=”right” min_height=”513px” height=”100px” custom_margin=”-88px||-13px|-13px|false|false” custom_padding=”61px||7px|||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||20px|||” custom_margin=”1px|auto|-23px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-121px|||||” custom_padding=”|49px||49px||”]<\/p>\n

Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> is a painting of divine retribution meted out to a corrupt, self-indulgent, unworthy ruler. Martin\u2019s depiction emphasizes the king\u2019s impiety, as he boldly raises a toast in front of all his subjects using looted sacred vessels. At that moment, God writes in glowing, divine script on the walls of the hall in a language Belshazzar does not understand. The king turns to his courtiers to interpret the glowing words to him, but all fail except for the prophet Daniel. Daniel, who has been held against his will in Babylon, reads the script to reveal that God has sentenced Belshazzar to death. God also condemns all of Babylon to fall along with their vain King. Moments after the script is read, an enemy army bursts through their supposedly unbreakable walls.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ custom_padding=”131px||0px|||” custom_margin=”17px|auto|-7px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_width_all=”8px” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” min_height=”782.1px”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/a013hhjhcwyql7amzpmad\/IMG_2370.jpeg?rlkey=oxoez8qhtuyrp9vtlsyg6zp1h&st=bdzs7mdr&raw=1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”-131px||-2px|||”]
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Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(half-size copy), detail of Daniel<\/p>\n

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Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(half-size copy), detail of Belshazzar<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”20px||28px|||” custom_margin=”2px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”14px|||||” custom_padding=”0px|50px||48px||”]<\/p>\n

Martin depicted motifs that likened Belshazzar to George IV and the palace to the Academy. He provides a panoramic view to reveal the expanse of the city, the banquet halls, the holy text, and the panicked people. This perspective allows the viewer to see the King, the people, and the iconic Tower of Babel in the background, emphasizing the large-scale effects of one man\u2019s sins. The King and his court stand on a platform in the foreground above the large hall. The vast composition does nothing to quell the glittering luxury exhibited at Belshazzar\u2019s feast. His attire, the concubines clinging to his side, the bright red throne, and the shining infamous vessels decorate the massive space. Belshazzar\u2019s crown shines atop his head, matching the golden embroidery on his long yellow tunic. On his shoulders rests a deep red cloak that engulfs him. The cup that sealed his fate is sitting overturned on the floor in front of him, having just been dropped. On the other side of the throne is his queen, dressed in bright white with a child at her side, pulling her into a flow of red drapery that extends past the composition. In the center stands Daniel, gesturing to the writing of God on a secondary mezzanine surrounded by other onlookers and a long, glittering banquet table. The writing itself, large and glowing, off to the far left of the composition, shows no trace of God’s actual hand, implying that this is the moment after the writing was finished. The prophet seems to be speaking to them, likely revealing Belshazzar\u2019s death sentence as well as the imminent downfall of Babylon. As creator of the scene, Martin becomes Daniel, gesturing to the public and communicating his work.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_width_all=”10px” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” min_height=”336.2px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/1n01uuql8x0e4k6esgk62\/Screenshot-2025-05-05-at-12.16.58-PM.png?rlkey=6kxo3w7rrwu9bq0abg1mnvv7w&st=00g9h893&raw=1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”-134px|||||” custom_padding=”||0px|||”]
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Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(half-size copy), detail of God’s writing<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||29px|||” custom_margin=”-135px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-104px|||||” custom_padding=”|50px||50px||”]<\/p>\n

The perspective and detail of the composition create a feeling of hyper-reality, bringing the story of Belshazzar closer to the viewers. The painting as originally exhibited was exceptionally large, over eight feet long and over five feet tall. Its size allowed for the vast space that Martin ventured to portray on the canvas. The most striking aspect of this painting is the overwhelming presence of human infrastructure. The grand palace dominates the fore, middle, and background. The viewer gets lost exploring the intricate architecture before being brought back to the commotion when spotting the people fleeing in panic. Beyond the courtyard, monstrous buildings rise as the backdrop for Belshazzar\u2019s opulence. These huge structures stand amidst a storm-filled sky, where a bolt of lightning cuts through the darkness.[68]<\/span><\/a> Martin spreads a sense of impending danger throughout the work. It encourages a careful look, as the viewer identifies the bustle of the crowds, a woman collapsing in terror, and Belshazzar himself taking a step away from the heart of the composition. The miraculously bright light that emanates through the left side of the picture is the source of the panic. In contrast, Martin has provided a respite on the far right with a calm moon and singular star hovering over the chaos and establishing a calm and natural light while the story below unfolds.<\/p>\n

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Figure 1. John Martin, Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>(full-size original), 1820, oil on canvas, 160 x 249 cm, Private Collection.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2. John Martin,\u00a0Belshazzar’s Feast<\/em>\u00a0(half-size copy),\u00a0<\/em>1820, 80 x 120.7 cm, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Martin\u2019s painting played on a well-established association between Belshazzar and George IV. At the time of the work\u2019s creation, His father, George III, was often compared to Belshazzar\u2019s predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, since both kings had the reputation for having gone \u201cmad.\u201d[69]<\/span><\/a> It was due to his father\u2019s mental deterioration that George assumed the throne, and in celebration, he threw a party with 2,000 people in attendance, creating his reputation for outsized extravagance. His own table was 200 feet long, and only sat about one-tenth of the guests. The new Prince Regent wore a uniform that was deep red and gold, covered in golden embroidery supposedly weighing 200 pounds.[70]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 At least one attendee analogized this event to Martin\u2018s painting: Melesina Trench wrote to a friend,<\/p>\n

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The show was all that Oriental pomp, feudal ceremonial, and British wealth could unite. The processions in The Curse of Kehama<\/em>, and in Rimini<\/em>, with the painting of Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em>, were continually recalled to my memory. The conflict of the two lights<\/em> from the blaze of artificial day mixing with a splendid sunshine, the position of the King\u2019s table, the pomp of the banquet, with its vessels of gold and silver, the richness of the dresses, and a thousand other particulars, rendered the resemblance so perfect, it seemed as if the Feast had been in some degree copied from the picture. Thus does art seem to contain the germ of all that is developed in life.[71]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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While this comment about the banquet\u2019s grandiosity is seemingly positive, the author\u2019s comparison of a King\u2019s coronation to the banquet that led to the fall of Babylon cannot but render the associations between the two frivolous kings and the potential fall of his empire.<\/p>\n

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King George IV Having His Gouty Foot Massaged by His Mistress Marchioness of Hertford While His Wife Queen Caroline Listens in the Doorway, <\/span><\/i>ca. 1820. Coloured etching with watercolour. Wellcome Collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

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William Heath, <\/span>The Gouty George IV Relaxing before Nine Portraits Chronicling His Past Extravagant Styles of Dress; Satirizing the King\u2019s Attempt to Withdraw from Public Ridicule, <\/span><\/i>1824. Coloured etching. Wellcome Collection.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Such opulence provoked a great deal of public ire, expressed in caricatures published at this time that depicted George IV as similar to Belshazzar. He was often shown as bloated and gouty, in an opulent room, accompanied by his mistress. These images critiqued his sinful nature, the main issues of his character being dreadfully similar to Belshazzar\u2019s sins. \u00a0In 1817, just three years before Martin began his work, a preacher named Neil Douglas was publicly charged with sedition for having made \u201cwicked\u201d and \u201cslanderous\u201d comparisons he made between George IV and Belshazzar in front of his congregation. As recorded by a witness, Douglas claimed \u201cthat as Belshazzar had drunk wine out of the forbidden vessels, so the Prince Regent was not taking a warning by his father, and was not lending an ear to the prayers and supplications of the people.[72]<\/span><\/a> Douglas was found not guilty by a jury of his peers, made up mostly of farmers and merchants, who seemed to easily overlook the damning evidence against him.<\/p>\n

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The painting\u2019s setting also traded upon visual similarities between Babylon and London: archaeological interest in the ancient city had inspired the new, \u201cBabylonian-style\u201d brick buildings on Regent Street in London\u2019s West End.[73]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0The middle ground of the painting is taken up entirely by columns and large marble or stone structures that stretch towards infinity and emphasize the strength and permanence of Babylon. The column-lined walls of the courtyard extend past the square into three hallways that create the illusion of a never-ending banquet hall. The columns rise to support the roof in the form of massive, ascending slabs, creating an impression of archways. Martin manufactured the appearance of an arch without including them in the composition since they would not have been historically.[74]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0He did so by stacking bricks from the column to the ceiling in increasing size, creating the appearance of a curve. Dart, who analyzes the painting under these architectural and symbolic similarities, states that \u201cit offered a clear political allegory for those that wanted one.”[75]<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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J. Bluck,\u00a0The Quadrant, Regent Street,<\/em> 1822, print,\u00a0Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(half-size copy), detail of architecture and faux archways<\/p>\n

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The fact that Martin showed his work at the BI rather than the RA could also be taken as an indictment of the latter for its connections to the king: this decision, according to Pendred, \u201csuggests that it was in this year his resentment against that body was at its height.\u201d[76]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0Importantly, the BI was located across the street from Carlton House, a palace residence of George IV. The long building had a fa\u00e7ade of columns, similar to that of the interior walls of the courtyard in Belshazzar\u2019s Feast.<\/em> Visitors to the British Institution would therefore have seen that building just before entering the exhibition. The rows of columns and brick archways in Martin\u2019s picture also resemble the design of Somerset House, a former royal palace that was adapted to house the Royal Academy.[77]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0Each pillar on the ground floor of Somerset House curved into an arch using courses of bricks that increased in length as they rose to the ceiling, the same technique that Martin invented for his Babylonian palace.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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J. Pye, Carlton House, Pall Mall, 1820,\u00a0<\/em>engraving, Published by Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, London.<\/p>\n

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Map of Pall Mall, with the British Institution and Carlton House, based on maps from 1820.\u00a0Drawn by the author.<\/p>\n

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Members of Martin\u2019s professional circle, including Leslie, advised him against making Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em>, although the reasons for this advice are unclear. Around 1820, Martin claims that Leslie, \u201cwho so entirely differed from my notions of the treatment, that he called on purpose, and spent part of a morning, in the vain endeavor of preventing my committing myself, and so injuring the reputation I was obtaining.\u201d Martin goes on to say, \u201cthis opposition only confirmed my intentions.\u201d[78]<\/span><\/a> It is unlikely that Leslie was warning him against attempting Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>due to its size or ambitious composition: more likely, Leslie recognized the symbolic potential and knew it would stir up trouble with the Academy.[79]<\/span><\/a> This is borne out in at least one contemporary reaction to the painting. Critic Charles Lamb expressed his distaste for Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> by comparing it to an incident at a party thrown by George IV:<\/p>\n

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He then proceeds to tell the story of a puerile trick played by the Prince Regent in his pavilion at Brighton, where, in the midst of a banquet, he had all the lights turned off, and illuminated writing cast upon the wall, with the words: “Brighton-Earthquake-Swallow up alive,” and declares that the figures in John Martin’s painting have no more tragedy or dignity than if they had been the victims of such \u201ca paltry trick.\u201d[80]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Lamb\u2019s review recalls a scene at George IV\u2019s banquet where he imitates the story of Belshazzar\u2019s feast. The words he has cast on the wall are meant to frighten his guests with the promise of their doom, mimicking the people of Babylon. In doing so, George IV is placing himself in the role of Belshazzar.<\/p>\n

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An 1826 mezzotint version of Martin\u2019s composition (figure 7) altered some aspects of the original oil painting in ways that underscore the connections between Belshazzar and George IV. For example, Belshazzar\u2019s concubines are made more prominent through their change in dress color from warm tones to bright white, drawing more attention to this aspect of Belshazzar\u2019s debauchery. Martin also made Belshazzar\u2019s hair curl more outward around his ear, so that he more closely resembled George IV\u2019s hairstyle as captured in contemporary portraits. The Queen\u2019s situation is also changed. In the original painting, a small girl tugs at her arm; here, she kneels closer to the ground while the girl tries to pull her deeper into the safety of a large curtain. This fabric seems to shield the queen, isolating her from the rest of the space in a halo of drapery. As an allegory for Queen Caroline, Belshazzar\u2019s wife stands apart from her husband and his noticeable mistresses while the small girl at her side is an echo of Princess Charlotte. The Queen is detached from the chaos and the sins of her husband to the safety beyond the edge of the composition by a shroud that encases her and the small girl.<\/p>\n

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Figure 7. John Martin, Belshazzar\u2019s Feast <\/em>(First Plate), 1826, mezzotint, 59.7 x 81.3 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.<\/p>\n

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Belshazzar’s Feast<\/em> (1826 mezzotint), detail of Belshazzar and his Queen.<\/p>\n

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Detail of J. Bromley after Robert Bowyer,\u00a0<\/span>King George IV, Seated in an Armchair, Holding a Glove in His Right Hand, 1827, <\/span><\/i>mezzotint, Wellcome Collection. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Belshazzar’s Feast\u00a0<\/em>(1826 mezzotint), detail of dedication.<\/p>\n

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A caption to the mezzotint makes pointed reference to the King: the wording at the base of the print reads, \u201cTo his most gracious majesty George the fourth, King of Great Britain. This engraving is humbly dedicated by his majesty\u2019s faithful & devoted subject, John Martin.\u201d The context of Martin\u2019s distaste for the King, combined with the history of the King\u2019s comparison to Belshazzar, suggests that this dedication should be read as sarcastic. Martin managed to compare the King to Belshazzar by relying on those who have made comparisons in the past, and in doing so, he maintained plausible deniability by not completely connecting the dots. His thinly veiled transgression saved him from being charged with sedition. Many people could have put together Martin\u2019s insinuation at its exhibition at the British Institution, and regular readers of the paper would have confirmed in their minds the connection when the mezzotint reached the eyes of the public. Those in the Academy would have even more recognized exactly what Martin was saying since word spread of his hatred of the King just years before.<\/p>\n

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[68]<\/span><\/a> In most of Martin\u2019s compositions, he includes a singular, crisp lightning strike. This has become a characteristic of his work that he is known for.<\/p>\n

[69]<\/span><\/a> Dart, 150; According to periodicals, the public considered Nebuchadnezzar to be Belshazzar\u2019s father, but there is a debate on the accuracy of this statement.<\/p>\n

[70]<\/span><\/a> E. A. Smith, \u201cPrince Regent,\u201d In George IV<\/em> (Yale University Press, 1999), 133.<\/p>\n

[71]<\/span><\/a> Feaver, The Art of John Martin, 52<\/em>; Melesina Chenevix St. George Trench, The remains of the late Mrs. Richard Trench<\/em>, ed. Richard Chenevix Trench, (London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, 1862), 451.<\/p>\n

[72]<\/a> \u201cHigh Court of Justiciary: Sedition,\u201d The Caledonian Mercury, <\/em>May 29, 1817, 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

[73]<\/span><\/a> Dart, \u201cOn Great and Little Things,\u201d 149-150.<\/p>\n

[74]<\/span><\/a> Dart, \u201cOn Great and Little Things,\u201d 153.<\/p>\n

[75]<\/span><\/a> Dart, 150.<\/p>\n

[76]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, 93.<\/p>\n

[77]<\/span><\/a> Caroline Knight, \u201cThe History of the Building,\u201d The British Art Journal<\/em> 2, no. 2 (2000): 6; Dart, 151.<\/p>\n

[78]<\/span><\/a> John Martin, The Athenaeum<\/em>, 1834, 459.<\/p>\n

[79]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, John Martin, <\/em>103.<\/p>\n

[80]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, 105.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”266px|||||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”0px||3px|||” custom_margin=”-228px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/sno71eh2tz7h45g2943gl\/Martin-portrait.jpg?rlkey=yf2jiimmvbfpnjzoci7xbyxmm&st=zr403s8x&raw=1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_width_all=”7px” border_color_all=”#f4eabe” border_style_all=”double” custom_padding=”1px|||||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#f4eabe” text_font_size=”24px” min_height=”142.1px” custom_padding=”0px|||||”] Henry Warren,\u00a0John Martin, oil on panel,\u00a026.7 x 21.6 cm, National Portrait Gallery, London. [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/d4tmwfg8dqq8jdc3b2rtg\/Painting-the-King-and-his-Sycophants-copy.png?rlkey=r3vmjbar5wrc9tfiusr9psppi&st=h3oasuap&raw=1″ show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”111%” max_width=”121%” module_alignment=”right” min_height=”513px” height=”100px” custom_margin=”-88px||-13px|-13px|false|false” custom_padding=”61px||7px|||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||20px|||” custom_margin=”1px|auto|-23px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-331","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":271,"date":"2025-04-17T18:47:04","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=271"},"modified":"2025-04-17T18:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:47:04","slug":"acknowledgments","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/acknowledgments\/","title":{"rendered":"Acknowledgments"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-271","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":260,"date":"2025-04-17T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=260"},"modified":"2025-05-05T03:16:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:16:06","slug":"image-information","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/image-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Image Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/Untitled_Artwork-2-1.jpg” background_size=”contain” min_height=”826.3px” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font_size=”30px” custom_margin=”||5px|||”]<\/p>\n

Image Information<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” background_color=”#f4eabe” custom_padding=”|34px||34px||”]<\/p>\n

The subject of this thesis is John Martin\u2019s\u00a0Belshazzar\u2019s Feast,\u00a0<\/em>made in 1820 and exhibited at the British Institution in 1821. This original work is 160 x 249 centimeters, is held in a private collection, and has only been publically exhibited a few times since its creation. The reproduction of the original version that appears on the landing pages of this website was sourced from Bridgeman Images. On the first landing page, I have embedded this reproduction into\u00a0<\/span>R. Grave, after A. Pugin,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Gallery of the British Institution<\/em>, published in Magazine of Fine Arts, 1821, illustration following page 240.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the second landing page, I have embedded the same reproduction into my own sketch, inspired by the aforementioned illustration of R. Grave.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same year that Martin made the 160 x 249 cm painting, he made two other smaller copies or sketches of his own work. One of the works is a half-size sketch, which can be seen on the Introduction page. This sketch is 80 x 120.7 cm, and is held by the Yale Center for British Art, where I had the privilege of viewing the work in person. During this visit I was able to create detailed photographs of the work seen throughout the website.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_text=”Back to Belshazzar” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/welcome\/original-exhibition\/” button_alignment=”center” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#f2e7b3″ button_text_size=”24px”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/Untitled_Artwork-2-1.jpg” background_size=”contain” min_height=”826.3px” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font_size=”30px” custom_margin=”||5px|||”] Image Information [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” background_color=”#f4eabe” custom_padding=”|34px||34px||”] The subject of this thesis is John Martin\u2019s\u00a0Belshazzar\u2019s Feast,\u00a0made in 1820 and exhibited at the British Institution in 1821. This original work is 160 x 249 centimeters, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

The subject of this thesis is John Martin's Belshazzar's Feast, <\/em>made in 1820, exhibited at the British Institution in 1821. This original work is 160 x 249 centimeters and is held in a private collection. Due to this, it is rarely seen. The image I am using was sourced from Bridgeman Images under fair use.\u00a0 This image can be seen on the first and second pages of this website. The image on the first page is: R. Grave, after A. Pugin, Gallery of the British Institution<\/em>, published in Magazine of Fine Arts, 1821, illustration following page 240. Digital image courtesy of University of Michigan Library, Ann Arbor, MI.\u00a0I have embedded a color image of the originally exhibited\u00a0Belshazzar's Feast <\/em>within this image<\/span>.<\/p>

On the second page, I created a sketch inspired by the illustration of R. Grave, where I also included the original Belshazzar's Feast<\/em> image.<\/p>

In the same year that Martin made the 160 x 249 cm painting, he made two other smaller copies or sketches of his own work. One of the works is a half-size sketch, which can be seen on the Introduction page. This sketch is 80 x 120.7 cm, and is held by the Yale Center for British Art, where I had the privilege of viewing the work in person. During this visit I was able to photograph detail pictures of the work, which will be seen throughout the website.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-260","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":219,"date":"2025-04-09T01:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T01:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=219"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:15:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:15:58","slug":"original-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/welcome\/original-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"original exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/original-exhibit-revised.jpg” width=”100%” max_width=”100%” min_height=”1000px” height=”1000px” max_height=”1000px” custom_margin=”0px|1px|||false|false” custom_padding=”205px|64px|55px||false|false” animation_style=”fade” animation_duration=”1300ms” animation_delay=”300ms”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”457px||0px||false|false” custom_margin=”-15px|auto||411px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”52.8%” min_height=”195.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|||false|false” custom_margin=”|auto|0px||false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”90%” min_height=”145.7px” z_index=”0″ locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/image-information\/” button_text=”About the images” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”28px” button_text_color=”#700000″ button_bg_color=”rgba(112,0,0,0.26)” custom_margin=”150px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/home\/” button_text=”Continue” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”28px” button_text_color=”#700000″ button_bg_color=”rgba(112,0,0,0.26)” custom_margin=”150px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” z_index_tablet=”500″ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":217,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-blank.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-219","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/219\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":217,"date":"2025-04-09T00:55:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T00:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=217"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:07:46","slug":"welcome","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/Front-page.jpg” min_height=”866.7px” custom_margin=”-89px||110px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”773px||187px|488px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_style_all=”ridge” min_height=”777px” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/welcome\/original-exhibition\/” button_text=”Enter the exhibit” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”22px” button_font=”Bentham||||||||” button_icon=”%%20%%” custom_margin=”23px||-105px|-38px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||15px|false|false” z_index_tablet=”500″ button_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” locked=”off”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/Front-page.jpg” min_height=”866.7px” custom_margin=”-89px||110px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”773px||187px|488px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ border_style_all=”ridge” min_height=”777px” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/welcome\/original-exhibition\/” button_text=”Enter the exhibit” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”22px” button_font=”Bentham||||||||” button_icon=”%%20%%” custom_margin=”23px||-105px|-38px|false|false” custom_padding=”|||15px|false|false” z_index_tablet=”500″ button_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” locked=”off”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-blank.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-217","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/217\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":96,"date":"2025-02-26T03:37:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T03:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=96"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:43:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:43:21","slug":"paradise-lost","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/paradise-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"Paradise Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”45px|||||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||0px|32px|false|false” custom_margin=”|auto||auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_enable_image=”off” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/buual667bgh947a6dkfr2\/Paradise-Lost.png?rlkey=25tc6rxxvneyauvb4e9e8dnlx&st=h0yh6gzr&raw=1″ show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/buual667bgh947a6dkfr2\/Paradise-Lost.png?rlkey=25tc6rxxvneyauvb4e9e8dnlx&st=h0yh6gzr&raw=1″ transform_scale=”189%|189%” width=”100%” max_width=”110%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”-170px|||||” custom_padding=”||1px|1px||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”20px||0px|45px||” custom_margin=”-234px|auto|-313px|auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”1545.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-159px||-7px|6px||” custom_padding=”38px|50px||||” min_height=”661.8px”]<\/p>\n

Martin did not abandon the RA after Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em>: he continued to submit large-scale historical works and landscapes through the end of his career.[81]<\/span><\/a> However, he vociferously protested its \u201cgatekeeping\u201d power over the British art world. In 1839, Martin and several other aggrieved artists\u2014George Rennie, E. T. Paris, George Clint, F. Y. Thurlstone, James Holmes, and George Foggo\u2014brought a petition against the Academy to the House of Commons under the request that as a public institution, they must submit their financial returns to the government, as would be expected of a public institution.[82]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0The vote itself regarded the House\u2019s order of the 14th of March, which would have demanded their financial accountability.[83]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0The vote came down to 33 ayes and 38 noes, causing the order of the 14th<\/sup> of March to be disregarded, and the Academy to avoid public accountability.[84]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Subsequently, in 1842, The Morning Post <\/em>published a series of columns investigating the Academy\u2019s conduct on behalf of the public. \u00a0The author included testimony from Martin and the current Academy President, Sir Martin Shee, from an 1836 House of Commons Committee hearing about their treatment of Martin.[85]<\/span><\/a> The article\u2019s author makes clear their belief that the RA, under Shee\u2019s leadership, mistreated Martin:<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” min_height=”281.5px” custom_margin=”-3px||-85px|-45px||” custom_padding=”3px||0px|170px|false|false”]<\/p>\n

There is no possible construction of this evidence by which the conclusion can be avoided that in the particular case of Mr. Martin the Academy did all the harm that such an institution can ever have the power of doing \u2014not merely to the interest of the individual artist, for of that we speak not \u2014 but to the public interest in the promotion of art.<\/span>[86]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-23px||9px|1px||” custom_padding=”|50px|0px|0px||”]<\/p>\n

The published excerpts from Shee\u2019s comments to the committee concern his opinion that Martin should have ignored the abuses that the Academy meted out to non-member artists. \u00a0Referring to Martin\u2019s Joshua<\/em>, Shee stated for the Committee that Martin had one poorly exhibited work when he was young, and afterward he \u201cwithdrew from the exhibitions at the Academy.\u201d Shee defended the RA by arguing that Joshua<\/em>\u2019s hanging position was not as poor as the artist felt. He also suggested that Martin\u2019s objections ultimately caused his rift with the RA: \u201cIf he had gone on as a young man of talent might reasonably be expected to do… I am convinced Mr. Martin would, long since, have become a full member of the Royal Academy.\u201d[87]<\/span><\/a> This declaration confirms that Martin\u2019s exclusion was not due to lack of artistic talent or the overly \u201dpopular\u201d appeal of his artworks. Instead, it was Martin\u2019s willingness to protest against the Academy, a protest embodied in Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em>, that prevented him from achieving membership, an important step toward entering the canon of British artists.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|||||” custom_margin=”59px|auto|-106px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/table.png” custom_margin=”-56px||-111px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||381px|||” locked=”off”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”||25px|50px||” custom_margin=”|auto||230px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”14px” custom_margin=”-120px|||||” custom_padding=”|50px||||”]<\/p>\n

[81]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, John Martin,<\/em> 95, 135, 145-146; He seems to have sent about a dozen notable works to the Academy within the final few decades of his life.<\/p>\n

[82]<\/span><\/a> The parliament records refer to an order they made on the 14th<\/sup> of March. This order is not explicitly explained, but it seems to refer to a declaration by the House asking for the Royal Academy\u2019s returns. That as a royally funded institution that uses the money of the people to sustain themselves, they must be held accountable to the House of Commons by revealing their finances and records.<\/p>\n

[83]<\/span><\/a> \u201dHouse of Commons: The Royal Academy,\u201d The Morning Chronicle, <\/em>July 31, 1839, 3,4; Benjamin Robert Haydon also sent in a petition that was read at this hearing.<\/p>\n

[84]<\/span><\/a> \u201dHouse of Commons: The Royal Academy,\u201d The Morning Chronicle, <\/em>July 31, 1839, 3,4; Benjamin Robert Haydon also sent in a petition that was read at this hearing.<\/p>\n

[85]<\/span><\/a> While the article does not say the date of the testimony, in their quotes, Shee refers to an event that he claims occurred 24 years prior when Martin was 22, indicating the year was 1835-1836.<\/p>\n

[86]<\/span><\/a> \u201cThe Royal Academy,\u201d The Morning Post<\/em>, May 16, 1842, 5;\u00a0\u201cThe Royal Academy,\u201d The Morning Post<\/em>, May 3, 1842, 4.<\/p>\n

[87]<\/span><\/a> \u201cThe Royal Academy,\u201d The Morning Post<\/em>, May 16, 1842, 5.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”45px|||||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||0px|32px|false|false” custom_margin=”|auto||auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_enable_image=”off” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/buual667bgh947a6dkfr2\/Paradise-Lost.png?rlkey=25tc6rxxvneyauvb4e9e8dnlx&st=h0yh6gzr&raw=1″ show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/buual667bgh947a6dkfr2\/Paradise-Lost.png?rlkey=25tc6rxxvneyauvb4e9e8dnlx&st=h0yh6gzr&raw=1″ transform_scale=”189%|189%” width=”100%” max_width=”110%” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”-170px|||||” custom_padding=”||1px|1px||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”20px||0px|45px||” custom_margin=”-234px|auto|-313px|auto|false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”1545.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-159px||-7px|6px||” custom_padding=”38px|50px||||” min_height=”661.8px”] Martin did not abandon the RA after Belshazzar\u2019s Feast: he continued to submit large-scale historical works and landscapes through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-96","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":97,"date":"2025-02-26T03:25:59","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T03:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=97"},"modified":"2025-05-06T15:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:25:21","slug":"ambitious-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/ambitious-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambitious of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ width=”100%” custom_padding=”0px|0px||173px||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||0px|0px||” custom_margin=”-7px|104px|-19px|1px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” background_enable_image=”off” border_color_all=” #605f00″ border_style_all=”outset” width=”98.5%” min_height=”95.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/gaiizzzgdfh306nsbieqv\/Ambitious-of-Fame-Martin-at-the-RA-1.png?rlkey=pmscbc1eh47prhvc56uwukmqq&st=66xyjwmo&raw=1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ transform_scale=”130%|130%” width=”100%” custom_margin=”0px|0px||0px|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px||false|false”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”0px||9px|0px||” custom_margin=”-181px|75px|-4px|4px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”98.6%” min_height=”162.6px”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/02\/Clytie.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”99.9%” custom_margin=”-140px|-28px||||” custom_padding=”|||23px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” custom_margin=”|-36px||||”]<\/p>\n

Figure 5. John Martin, Clytie<\/em>, 1814, oil on canvas, 62 x 92.7 cm, Liang Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/04\/Clytie-detail.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”100%” min_height=”369.2px” custom_margin=”1px|||||” custom_padding=”|||24px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” custom_margin=”-31px|||||” custom_padding=”|0px||108px||”]<\/p>\n

Clytie,<\/em> detail<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”justify” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.5em” min_height=”802.4px” custom_margin=”-44px||-179px|||” custom_padding=”0px|57px||||”]<\/p>\n

With the broader circumstances of exhibition in mind, we can now turn to Martin\u2019s early career to understand how a decade\u2019s worth of successes and failures at the Academy led to Martin\u2019s turn against the RA. This dated back to 1810, when as an emerging artist Martin experienced how strongly hanging positions impacted a painting\u2019s fortunes. In 1810, while working as a glass painter to support his family, Martin made time to create and send to the Academy his first oil painting for exhibition. The subject was Clytie, a nymph who was in love with Helios, the sun god. Although the painting was rejected upon Martin\u2019s first try, he sent it again the following year. The work was accepted and hung in the Great Room, which was a favorable result for a young painter.<\/span>[42]<\/span><\/a> This placement, with ample illumination from above, enhanced Clytie<\/em>\u2019s ethereal luminosity, helping to make the work a critical success; notably, the painting would not have fared so well in a dark anteroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”135px||23px|39px||” custom_margin=”15px|46px||2px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”100%” min_height=”650px”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/02\/Sadak.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”100%” custom_margin=”-32px|||||” custom_padding=”|1px||0px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”center” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”4px||13px|||” inline_fonts=”Bentham”]<\/p>\n

Figure 3. John Martin. Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion, <\/em>1812, oil on canvas, 183.2 x 131.1 cm, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”justify” text_text_color=”#5a0c1c” text_font_size=”22px” text_line_height=”1.5em” text_orientation=”justified” width=”100%” custom_margin=”-114px|||||” custom_padding=”|50px||0px||”]<\/p>\n

This early success encouraged Martin to continue exhibiting with the Academy; he was also impelled by financial need (having lost his employment as a glass painter in 1812) and, as <\/span>the artist later<\/span> recounted, \u201cambitious of fame<\/span>.\u201d<\/span>[43]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0These circumstances motivated him to create a large, dramatic, eye-catching work, Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion <\/em>(1812; figure 3). Sadak<\/em> represented a story from James Ridley\u2019s The Tales of Genii <\/em>(1764), about a man whose wife was taken by a Sultan. In exchange for her safe return, Sadak must find and bring back some of the Waters of Oblivion, which had the power to wipe a person\u2019s memory. While the Sultan\u2019s goal was to use the waters on Sadak\u2019s wife, his plan backfired, ultimately leading to Sadak\u2019s placement on the throne. The moment Martin chose to depict was the scene of Sadak climbing up to the Waters, just before he reaches his goal. In the painting, Sadak is hanging from a cliff, unable to see the glow of the Waters of Oblivion and the promise of his triumph just ahead of him. Despite the work\u2019s narrative and pictorial ambition and large size (over 6 feet tall), the Academy placed it in an anteroom<\/span>. Such placement, which surely disappointed the artist, would typically decrease the chances of a work being sold, but Martin received favorable press that helped it to sell for fifty guineas.<\/span>[44]<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”29px|33px|0px|||” custom_margin=”11px|471px||1px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”99.8%” min_height=”296.1px”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/02\/Adam-and-Eve.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”99.8%” min_height=”170.8px” custom_padding=”144px|||22px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” header_font=”Bentham||||||||” header_text_color=”#700000″ min_height=”24.8px” custom_margin=”10px|||6px||” custom_padding=”1px||0px|8px||”]<\/p>\n

Figure 4. John Martin. Adam\u2019s First Sight of Eve<\/em>, 1812, oil on canvas, 70.2 x 105.7 cm, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, Glasgow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/Adam-eve-detail.png” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”98.5%” custom_padding=”|1px||25px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”center” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_padding=”|||11px||”]<\/p>\n

Adam’s First Sight of Eve,<\/em> detail<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#5a0c1c” text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.5em” width=”96.6%” custom_margin=”|23px|-29px|||” custom_padding=”|1px|24px|41px||”]<\/p>\n

With his desire for fame and fortune in mind, from 1813 onward Martin utilized more than one exhibition venue to increase his chances of being noticed by patrons. That year, he chose to send The Expulsion <\/em>(1813; now lost) to the BI and Adam\u2019s First Sight of Eve<\/em> (1812; figure 4) to the RA. According to Martin\u2019s autobiography, the latter was placed in the <\/span>prestigious <\/span>Great Room.<\/span>[45]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/span>The painting\u2019s mellow, atmospheric morning light would have been accentuated by the skylight, illuminating the small figures of Adam and Eve in the foreground. <\/span>The following year, however, Martin\u2019s relationship <\/span>with<\/span> the Academy soured. Having sent another version of Clytie <\/em>(1814; figure 5) to the exhibition, he was dismayed to discover that an Academician spilled varnish down the center of the work while coating a painting placed above it.<\/span>[46]<\/span><\/a> According to\u00a0Martin\u2019s son Leopold,<\/span><\/p>\n

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Above my father\u2019s picture of Clytie <\/em>were hanging some smaller works, either by Royal Academicians or Associates of the Royal Academy. Thus it happened\u2026 that one of the privileged painters, when varnishing his picture, contrived – we must hope unobserved – to upset a quantity of dark varnish, which ran in a thick stream directly down it completely in two, and in every way destroying the beauty of the clear landscape and the anticipated effect my father hoped to excite\u2026 The \u2018private view\u2019 arrived, then the dinner, and the picture of Clytie<\/em> passed unnoticed \u2013 all the startling effect having been quite destroyed. Months of work and thought had been wasted. A whole season was quite lost, with the incidental losses in the shape of income and reputation.<\/span>[47]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Martin never received compensation for the damage that was done, nor were the culprits reprimanded. His only consolation was an apology from the son of the Academy\u2019s president, Benjamin West. \u00a0Whether it was truly an accident or a deliberate sabotage, Leopold stated that, \u201cOne may date my father\u2019s enmity to the Royal Academy from this unfortunate incident, which he never overlooked or forgave\u201d\u2014although Martin did continue to exhibit at the RA afterward.<\/span>[48]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”108px||15px|0px||” custom_margin=”15px|79px|15px|4px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”97%”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/02\/Joshua.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”12px|||||” custom_padding=”|||22px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” header_font=”Bentham||||||||” header_text_color=”#700000″ custom_margin=”||120px|||” custom_padding=”0px|||25px||” inline_fonts=”Bentham”]<\/p>\n

Figure 6. John Martin, Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still Upon Gibeon,<\/em> 1816, oil on canvas, 150 x 231 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/joshua-detail.png” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”-76px|-4px|12px|||” custom_padding=”|||19px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.5em” custom_padding=”|||25px||”]<\/p>\n

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still Upon Gibeon,<\/em> detail<\/p>\n

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Two years later, when Martin exhibited Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still Upon Gibeon <\/em>(1816; figure 6), his treatment pushed him to lash out against the RA. Nearly seven and a half feet long and five feet tall, this composition depicts a scene from the Old Testament. Joshua, leader of the Israelite forces, begs God to stop the sun from setting to help his forces fight for their allies in Gibeon. God pauses the sun, aiding the Israelites in their victory. The Academy relegated this work to the obscurity of an anteroom, a placement that would have diminished Martin\u2019s visual and narrative emphases in the painting. A dark room would have shrouded the already dimly lit composition, causing Martin\u2019s small, detailed figures to get lost, and its emphasis on the sun breaking through a gray and stormy sky pass unnoticed. In Martin\u2019s autobiography, he recalled that it was the placement of works like his Joshua <\/em>that \u201c<\/span>led to my ceasing to enter my name upon its books, to my considering its laws, and to my subsequent opposition on public grounds.\u201d[49]<\/span><\/a> Hoping to turn this painting\u2019s fortunes around, he exhibited <\/span>the Joshua <\/em>one year later at the British Institution, where it won the \u201cchief premium\u201d of the year, \u00a3100.<\/span>[50]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0The Examiner, <\/em>a newspaper known for commenting on current exhibitions, published a response to Martin\u2019s reward: \u201chis grand picture Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still<\/em>, 152, is now seen in an excellent light of this gallery with more satisfaction than last year in the dark anti-room of the Royal Academy. It is truly historical and poetical, an accumulation of the grand in nature and art.\u201d<\/span>[51]<\/span><\/a> The buzz <\/span>that Joshua <\/em>received at the British Institution started Martin\u2019s ascent to fame, a trajectory that would continue without much more help from the Royal Academy.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”|||23px||” custom_margin=”|auto|-166px|3px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/table.png” custom_margin=”-263px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px|1px|242px|19px||” locked=”off”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|3px||1px||” custom_margin=”22px|auto||1px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”99.7%”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”14px” background_color=”#f4eabe” custom_padding=”|0px||59px||”]<\/p>\n

[42]<\/span><\/a> John Martin,\u00a0\u201cMr. John Martin,\u201d The Illustrated London News<\/em>. March 17, 1849, 176.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[43]<\/span><\/a> Martin, The Illustrated London News<\/em>, 176.<\/p>\n

[44]<\/span><\/a> Martin. The Illustrated London News<\/em><\/span>, 176.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[45]<\/span><\/a> Martin.\u00a0The Illustrated London News<\/em>. 176.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[46]<\/span><\/a> Martin painted several works on the subject of Clytie, figure 5 is a \u201cClytie\u201d but is unconfirmed as the one that was ruined.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[47]<\/span><\/a> Pendered<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a059-60.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[48]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, 60.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[49]<\/span><\/a> Martin, The Illustrated London News<\/em>, 177.<\/p>\n

[50]<\/span><\/a> Martin, The Illustrated London News<\/em>, 176.<\/p>\n

[51]<\/span><\/a> R.H., \u201cFine Arts: British Institution,\u201d The Examiner<\/em>, February 16, 1817, 13.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ width=”100%” custom_padding=”0px|0px||173px||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px||0px|0px||” custom_margin=”-7px|104px|-19px|1px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” background_enable_image=”off” border_color_all=” #605f00″ border_style_all=”outset” width=”98.5%” min_height=”95.7px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/gaiizzzgdfh306nsbieqv\/Ambitious-of-Fame-Martin-at-the-RA-1.png?rlkey=pmscbc1eh47prhvc56uwukmqq&st=66xyjwmo&raw=1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ transform_scale=”130%|130%” width=”100%” custom_margin=”0px|0px||0px|false|false” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px||false|false”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ custom_padding=”0px||9px|0px||” custom_margin=”-181px|75px|-4px|4px||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” width=”98.6%” min_height=”162.6px”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/02\/Clytie.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”99.9%” custom_margin=”-140px|-28px||||” custom_padding=”|||23px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”18px” custom_margin=”|-36px||||”] Figure 5. John Martin, Clytie, 1814, oil on canvas, 62 x […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4223,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-97","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":94,"date":"2025-02-26T03:25:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T03:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/?page_id=94"},"modified":"2025-05-05T20:27:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T20:27:32","slug":"the-royal-academy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/the-royal-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"Headed by the King"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#700000″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row custom_padding=”1px||0px||false|false” custom_margin=”-120px||-212px||false|false” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”360.3px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/scl\/fi\/ci95g3cd7qr9789lyyq4d\/Paradise-Lost-5.png?rlkey=t913c27alh4sks0wkrhs6mryf&st=ga81wgk5&raw=1″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ min_height=”152.9px” custom_margin=”-168px|-133px||-219px||” custom_padding=”0px|2px|0px|||”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|7px|50px|||” custom_margin=”-9px|auto|-133px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”1150.4px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”justify” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” min_height=”758.3px” custom_margin=”-188px|||||” custom_padding=”0px|50px||50px||”]<\/p>\n

In order to understand the significance of Martin\u2019s exhibition choices, we must first examine how the RA wielded power and influence through its connection to the Crown, using privileges to promote the careers of its members. The Academy was intertwined with the Crown since its inception by a group of artists with the help of King George III in 1768. From the beginning, the King was invested in a symbiotic relationship based on the principle that \u201cthe success of individual artists, in turn proves the worth of the Academy, which in turn proves the worth of the state.\u201d[12]<\/span><\/a> He allowed the Academy to base itself in Somerset House, which had previously been a residence for British royalty.[13]<\/span><\/a> Between 1769 and 1780, he attended to the accounts and even balanced their books using money from his personal income. The King also had veto power over certain decisions and could even nominate members.[14]<\/span><\/a> His successor, George IV, did not exercise these privileges, reducing his direct involvement in the RA; however, the royal connection remained, and Academicians reaped the benefits of this association. The title of Academician, and access to the Academy\u2019s resources, provided an artist with royal connections, exhibition space, training, and social currency.[15]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0All these privileges not only augmented an artist\u2019s fame, status, and financial gain during their lifetime, but continued to benefit these artists after death:\u00a0 the title of Royal Academician helped to solidify an artist\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/Rowlandson-Thomas.-Royal-Academy-Exhibition-Room-Somerset-House.-Copyright-Royal-Academy-of-Arts-small.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_padding=”|||11px||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_align=”center” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”24px” custom_margin=”-32px|||||” custom_padding=”0px|||||”]<\/p>\n

Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Charles Pugin,\u00a0Exhibition Room, Somerset House,<\/span><\/em>\u00a0Aquatint and etching, 19.4 x 25.9 cm,\u00a0Royal Academy of Arts.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Although the Academy allowed non-academicians to participate in its annual exhibitions, the body extended privileges to members that disadvantaged and alienated non-member exhibitors. In addition to the prestige and connections that came with the title of Royal Academician, they were granted exclusive entitlements during exhibitions. Each Academician was allotted eight slots to fill with their works for every exhibition, while the inclusion of non-members was never guaranteed. Academicians\u2019 hanging took priority as well, giving them access to the most coveted wall space.[16]<\/span><\/a> Academicians gave their members gallery placements that were sure to attract public attention, while non-members typically were left with less-than-ideal locations. <\/span>The most coveted spot in the exhibition was the Great Room, which was large, with high ceilings to accommodate big pictures, and brightly lit by a sizeable skylight. Being placed in the main exhibition room also signaled to visitors that a work was deemed important, and therefore worthy of attention.<\/span>[17]<\/span><\/a> According to period accounts, the other exhibition spaces were offshoots from the Great Room that were small, dimly lit, low traffic areas. In his 1849 autobiographical text, Martin described these anterooms as \u201ca dark hole.\u201d<\/span>[18]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0As Martin\u2019s comment suggests, the placement of works in these rooms would be a sort of banishment that, at best, made exhibiting a waste of time, and at worst could harm their reputation. <\/span><\/p>\n

O<\/span>nce all admitted artworks were hung on the walls, Academicians enjoyed a further privilege: they could enter the space before the opening, on so-called \u201cVarnishing Days,\u201d where they could touch up their paintings and lay on a varnish, or protective coating.[19]<\/span><\/a> By contrast, other exhibitors could not ensure that their work was being treated properly during those weeks between hanging and opening. These circumstances intensified the competitive atmosphere amongst all participants. As Leo Costello notes, a work\u2019s placement implicitly invited comparisons to neighboring works:\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Because…pictures would often appear different once they were placed among the rest of the works, with the brightness and intensity of colours affected by the tones of neighbouring picture, the time during which they were placed was one of constant pleas and cajoling from painters of a wide range of levels attempting to gain an advantageous spot.[20]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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With the ability to participate in Varnishing Days, Academicians could take advantage of their placement, touching up their work in a way that would overshadow or negatively affect their neighbors. This ability to manipulate perceptions of other artists\u2019 works gave Academicians an even greater edge over non-members.<\/p>\n

The Academy\u2019s policies thus had the potential to benefit members and wreak immense damage to careers of non-members. Exhibitors recognized their potential for good as well as \u201chow the power of the Academy could ruin them.\u201d[21]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 The experience of Benjamin Robert Haydon, one of Martin\u2019s peers, exemplifies how much one could suffer at the hands of the Academy. Haydon\u2019s feud with the Academy was said to have begun in 1809, when they placed a work of which he was particularly proud in an anteroom.[22]<\/span><\/a> In his diary, Haydon recorded his strong distaste for the Academy in terms that align its power with that of the Crown and nobility: \u201cI found the Academy too strongly embedded in the Aristocracy of the Country, headed by the King, to remodel. I was ruined in the attempt. I never flinched. As I find it not vanquishable by open attack, I will now try conciliation.\u201d[23]<\/span><\/a> As this passage suggests, Haydon continued to submit to the RA exhibitions, and to socialize with the Academicians to curry favor with them.[24]<\/span><\/a> However, his attempts appear to have been ineffective, since the following year he wrote, \u201cthe Academy and the Academy alone had been the sole cause of ruining my plans.\u201d[25]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Aiming to escape the Academy\u2019s unjust rules, Haydon put on a solo exhibition in 1846. This failed spectacularly: his exhibit, staged next to a curiosity show featuring “General Tom Thumb,\u201d a little person named Charles Stratton, is said to have drawn 12,000 visitors, compared to Haydon\u2019s 133.[26]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0After this humiliation, Haydon committed suicide.[27]<\/span><\/a> This extreme case illustrates the dangers an artist could face by operating without the Academy\u2019s protection.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Because it came with these crucial privileges, membership in the RA was highly coveted but very hard to procure. There were a finite number of spots: only about 100 Academicians could be active at a time, meaning that new members could only join if there was a death or if an Academician aged past seventy-five.[28]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Even if a spot opened, a nomination for membership could only be placed by an existing Academician. [29]<\/a><\/span> Therefore, an artist had to have not only made themselves known to the Academicians, but (as Haydon\u2019s account suggests) they had to be well liked. Even the support of one member was not enough, since after nomination there was a vote where the other Academicians could decide if they accepted the nominee. This structure created a highly socially dependent admission process that relied on an artist\u2019s good relationships with the institution and other Academicians to be nominated and approved.<\/p>\n

This process meant that some artists who may have been deserving of membership were passed over due to social conflicts. Sometimes, the path to membership took decades: for example, painter and engraver John Linnell, one of Martin\u2019s contemporaries, spent 27 years trying to join. According to Linnell\u2019s account, his acceptance hinged upon personal connections rather than artistic skill. His experience was recorded by a mutual friend of both Martin and Linnell, Serjeant Ralph Thomas. Thomas\u2019s diary relayed Linnell\u2019s account: \u201cone [member] told me I should give dinners and make the Academicians my friends in that way. Others told me I should get a more fashionable tailor and assume more style. No one ever said, ‘You must paint better to get into the Academy.'”[30]<\/span><\/a> Linnell suggests that decisions about whom to admit had little to do with ability, casting suspicion on the artistic merits of those who had achieved such status.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ custom_padding=”||60px|||” custom_margin=”|auto|-63px|auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”641.1px”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/The-hay-wain.jpg” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ width=”90.8%” custom_margin=”||0px|||” custom_padding=”|||15px||” show_in_lightbox=”on”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”20px” width=”92.2%” custom_padding=”0px|||||”]<\/p>\n

John Constable,\u00a0The Hay Wain<\/em>, 1921, oil on canvas,\u00a0130.2\u00a0cm \u00d7\u00a0185.4\u00a0cm, National Gallery, London.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Figure 1. John Martin,\u00a0Belshazzar’s Feast<\/em>, 1820, oil on canvas, 160 x 249 cm, Private Collection.<\/p>\n

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Martin\u2019s negative experience with the Academy cannot be explained by poor social connections: unlike Linnell, Martin was socially adept. He was on friendly terms with several powerful Academicians, including two presidents of the body: Benjamin West (1792-1805, 1806-1820) and Thomas Lawrence (1820-1830).[31]<\/span><\/a> Martin even managed to turn rivalries into respectful friendships, as evidenced in his relationship with Constable. Constable, who had his own difficulties with RA membership in his early career, became an Associate Member in 1819.[32]<\/span><\/a> His one-sided conflict with Martin arose in 1821, when Martin’s success with Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/em> threatened to outshine the debut of Constable’s Hay Wain<\/em>, the first of his ambitious “six-footer” paintings. According to C.R. Leslie, Constable publicly disparaged Belshazzar\u2019s Feast,<\/em> referring to it as a mere \u201cpantomime,\u201d casting low-cultural aspersions on its phenomenal popularity.[33]<\/span><\/a> However, Martin and Constable subsequently made up, suggesting that the former was willing to forgive such petty behavior, perhaps in the hope of ingratiating himself with this powerful Academician.[34]<\/span><\/a> Constable also commented directly on Martin\u2019s poor relations with the Academy:<\/p>\n

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I showed them that if there was any blame anywhere, it was with you, Martin, for not complying with the rules of the society. But that you need not mind being left out of the Academy; they could do you no good. I said that John Martin looked at the Royal Academy from the Plains of Nineveh, from the Destruction of Babylon, etc., I am content to look at the Academy from a gate, and the highest spot I ever aspired to was a windmill![35]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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According to Constable, Martin did not find favor with Academicians because he was perceived to place himself far above his peers. He also seems to suggest that Martin did not need membership, perhaps because he was already so popular with the general public. In the same text, Constable conceded that he also objected to some of the Academy\u2019s policies but, unlike Martin, was not courageous enough to oppose them.[36]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

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For artists who, like Martin, were unable to obtain membership in the Royal Academy, the British Institution offered an alternative: an exhibition space without royal entanglements and more equal hanging procedures.[37]<\/span><\/a> When Martin exhibited Belshazzar\u2019s Feast, <\/em>the BI was still relatively new. Created in 1805, the BI received financial support from George IV and other members of the nobility, but it was not an instrument of the Crown. It was a \u201ccollectively funded philanthropic organization,\u201d which provided artists with a platform to find patrons.[38]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0It therefore lacked the RA\u2019s high status, but also the inequities that plagued the Academy, making it a more even playing field.[39]<\/span><\/a> Exhibitions were organized by a Committee of Directors elected by patrons who gave more than 100 guineas to the Institution.[40]<\/span><\/a> For these reasons, members of the Academy often participated in BI as well as RA exhibitions. The existence of the BI did not, however, make the Royal Academy obsolete, or diminish its power to shape an artist\u2019s reputation.[41]<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_margin=”-137px|auto||auto||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ background_image=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/belshazzarsfeast\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2470\/2025\/05\/table.png” custom_margin=”-137px||-174px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||268px|||” locked=”off”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”26px|||||” _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Bentham||||||||” text_text_color=”#700000″ text_font_size=”14px” background_color=”#f4eabe” min_height=”1422.6px” custom_padding=”11px|50px||50px||”]<\/p>\n

[12]<\/span><\/a> Leo Costello, \u201c\u2018This Cross-Fire of Colours\u2019: JMW Turner (1775-1851) and the Varnishing Days Reconsidered.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>The British Art Journal<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>10, no. 3 (2009): 56.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/span><\/a> Linda Colley, \u201cThe Apotheosis of George III: Loyalty, Royalty and the British Nation 1760-1820.\u201d\u00a0Past & Present<\/em>, no. 102 (1984): 100.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Holger Hoock,\u00a0The King\u2019s Artists<\/em>:<\/em> The Royal Academy of Arts and the Politics of British Culture, 1760-1840 <\/em>(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003), 29.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/span><\/a> H.C. Morgan, \u201cThe Lost Opportunity of the Royal Academy: An Assessment of Its Position in the Nineteenth Century.\u201d Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes <\/em>32 (1969): 410.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions,\u201d 14.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions,\u201d 32.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/span><\/a> John Martin,\u00a0The\u00a0Illustrated London News<\/em>. March 17, 1849, 177.<\/span><\/p>\n

[19]<\/span><\/a> Costello, \u201c\u2018This Cross-Fire of Colours,\u2019\u201d 56.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/span><\/a> Costello, \u201c\u2018This Cross-Fire of Colours,\u2019\u201d 58.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/span><\/a> Morgan, \u201cThe Lost Opportunity,\u201d 411.<\/p>\n

[22]<\/span><\/a> E. K. Waterhouse, \u201cBenjamin Robert Haydon\u2019s \u2018Dentatus.\u2019\u201d\u00a0The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs<\/em>\u00a088, no. 520 (1946): 175.<\/p>\n

[23]<\/span><\/a> Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1825-1832, vol.3, The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon<\/em>, ed Willard Bissell Pope (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), 89-90.<\/p>\n

[24]<\/span><\/a> Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1825-1832, vol.3, The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon<\/em>, ed Willard Bissell Pope (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), 105-106; Haydon claimed that he would give the Academy three years to treat him better.<\/p>\n

[25]<\/span><\/a> Benjamin Robert Haydon, 1825-1832, vol.3, The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon<\/em>, ed Willard Bissell Pope (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), 180.<\/p>\n

[26]<\/span><\/a> Paul O’Keefe, A Genius for Failure: The Life of Benjamin Robert Haydon<\/em> (London: The Bodley Head, 2009), 490.<\/p>\n

[27]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions,\u201d 17.<\/p>\n

[28]<\/span><\/a> There is a conflicting record of how many members could be active at a time. On page 30 of Holger Hoock\u2019s book The King\u2019s Artists,<\/em> he states that the Academy was restricted to forty members. However, on the Royal Academy\u2019s website, they reference that their founding documents had a limit of 100 members. It is possible that the 100 members are divided between forty academicians and sixty associates, but that distinction is not made.<\/p>\n

[29]<\/span><\/a> Tom Jeffreys, \u201cHow do Academicians get elected?\u201d Royal Academy, Published March 6, 2014, https:\/\/www.royalacademy.org.uk\/article\/how-do-academicians-get-elected<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[30]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, John Martin, <\/em>94-95.<\/p>\n

[31]<\/span><\/a> Morden, John Martin, <\/em>120; Pendered, 175; \u201cJohn Martin,\u201d Tate, Accessed April 4, 2025, https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/artists\/john-martin-371.<\/p>\n

[32]<\/span><\/a> \u00a0\u201cJohn Constable RA (1776 \u2013 1837),\u201d Royal Academy of Arts, April 2, 2025,<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.royalacademy.org.uk\/art-artists\/name\/john-constable-ra<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[33]<\/span><\/a> Gregory Dart, \u201cOn Great and Little Things: Cockney Art in the 1820s.\u201d Romanticism<\/em> 14, no. 2 (2008): 154.<\/p>\n

[34]<\/span><\/a> As recalled by Martin\u2019s close friend Ralph Thomas, Martin and Constable were friendly and spent time together. According to Thomas\u2019s diary, one evening in about the year 1833, Martin and himself went to Constable\u2019s house after attending an event together. Constable relayed to them a discussion he had with the author Henry Stebbing. Ralph Thomas only refers to him as \u201cStebbing,\u201d but it is safe to assume he is referring to Henry Stebbing, an author, poet, editor, and active contributor to The <\/em>Athen\u00e6um<\/em>, a newspaper that often included writings on Martin.<\/p>\n

[35]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, John Martin<\/em>, 179-180.<\/p>\n

[36]<\/span><\/a> Pendered, 180.<\/p>\n

[37]<\/span><\/a> The British Institution did not reserve spots for members as the Academy did.<\/p>\n

[38]<\/span><\/a> Catherine Roach, “Rehanging Reynolds at the British Institution: Methods for Reconstructing Ephemeral Displays”, British Art Studies, Issue 4, p17, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17658\/issn.2058-5462\/issue-04\/croach.<\/p>\n

[39]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions,\u201d 14.<\/p>\n

[40]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “Rehanging Reynolds,\u201c 18.<\/p>\n

[41]<\/span><\/a> Roach, “The Ecosystem of Exhibitions,\u201d 12.<\/p>\n

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