1815
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Ruins of an Ancient City is a 1815 unspecified by John Martin, a British Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows a crumbling old city in twilight. The buildings look Greek or Roman but are made up. The artist used strong shadows and deep space to make it dramatic. John Martin liked ruins and big scenes. He shows tiny people below to show how grand the ruins are. Check out this painting next at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
The painting depicts an imagined scene of a ruined ancient city bathed in the nostalgic glow of twilight. The artist's detailed, almost archeological, interest in these Greek or Roman buildings is characteristic of neoclassicism, although the composition—which plunges suddenly from the foreground into a deep valley—and dramatic lighting are typical of Romantic painting.
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Martin (19 July 1789 – 17 February 1854) was an English Romanticist painter, engraver, and illustrator.
See the richer artist page
