Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still (ca. 1840)
Technique: Giclée quality print
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More about this artwork
We are proud to feature "Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still," a magnificent painting by the romantic painter John Martin, created around 1840. This painting depicts the biblical story from the Book of Joshua, where Joshua asks God to stop the sun in the sky to prolong daylight and ensure victory in battle.In John Martin's rendition, we see a dramatic landscape dominated by dark, swirling clouds that open suddenly to reveal a divine light illuminating the city below. The scene is set amidst rugged mountains, with the focus on the central figure of Joshua, who stands commanding atop a promontory. Below, the armies and chaotic battle are rendered in fine detail, captured in the moment when time stands still.The painting's powerful portrayal of light contrasts sharply with the brooding, stormy sky, emphasizing the miraculous nature of the event. Martin's use of scale and his dramatic approach to natural elements make this work an exemplar of the Romantic movement's fascination with the sublime and the divine."Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still" draws viewers into a moment where human history and divine intervention collide, showcased through Martin's mastery of light, shadow, and atmospheric effects.
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John Martin was an English Romantic painter, engraver and illustrator. He was celebrated for his typically vast and melodramatic paintings of religious subjects and fantastic compositions, populated with minute figures placed in imposing landscapes. Martin's paintings, and the prints made from them, enjoyed great success with the general public—in 1821 Thomas Lawrence referred to him as "the most popular painter of his day"—but were lambasted by John Ruskin and other critics.