I saw this painting for the first time in my life as part of the Tate's exhibition of Ruin Lust. It was unsurprisingly the show piece of the event. The first thing that strikes me is that it showcases the gift of imagination. A man in 1822 summons up a vision of historical destruction, the depth of contemplation involved must have absorbed Martin. It is one thing to reproduce or depict what one sees whether still life, landscape or life - it takes a certain species of genius to conjure up a scene that took place in another millennia. It makes me wonder what does it feel like to hold a vision of the end of the world in your head, to contemplate how to express that. Where it does find expression in a painting such as this there has to be posed the question as to what is the purpose to this painting.
I cannot imagine Martin suddenly saying "well I was a bit bored and I decided to paint an apocalypse, but I don't really mean anything by it". It hits the extremes of human collective consciousness in that one minute the human race feels like it rules the world and the next minute we are reduced to trembling like ants who are about to be squished in some great cosmic joke. The whole painting begs the question of which is scarier? Is it the apocalypse in your own back yard or the woe betiding tales of the bible. The red sky we stare dreamily at is transformed to nightmare as Vesuvius shoots it's load is Shivaistic style. Martin then provides the ultimate double whammy eruption from the earth and lightning strike from the sky. For me I think the lesson here is that were all in it together whether it's terror or something sublime. Perhaps we should reflect that tragedy and ruin affect us all and in the words of the great modern philosopher Bob Marley we have to note that:
"When it rains it don't rain on one man's house". So in essence does Martin suggest a reason and encouragement for humans to unite?
I cannot imagine Martin suddenly saying "well I was a bit bored and I decided to paint an apocalypse, but I don't really mean anything by it". It hits the extremes of human collective consciousness in that one minute the human race feels like it rules the world and the next minute we are reduced to trembling like ants who are about to be squished in some great cosmic joke. The whole painting begs the question of which is scarier? Is it the apocalypse in your own back yard or the woe betiding tales of the bible. The red sky we stare dreamily at is transformed to nightmare as Vesuvius shoots it's load is Shivaistic style. Martin then provides the ultimate double whammy eruption from the earth and lightning strike from the sky. For me I think the lesson here is that were all in it together whether it's terror or something sublime. Perhaps we should reflect that tragedy and ruin affect us all and in the words of the great modern philosopher Bob Marley we have to note that:
"When it rains it don't rain on one man's house". So in essence does Martin suggest a reason and encouragement for humans to unite?
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