John Martin was able to create some of the most dramatic landscape paintings on a canvas, “The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum” is one of his most renowned paintings of the apocalypse series he created. His use of imagery with nature offers the interpretation to the audience, allowing many ideas to come about from the ocean to the sky and everything in between. Thick rolling clouds of ash and fire engulfed the sky, while streamers of lightning flash through the crevices of the molten looking sky, lava spurts into the atmosphere illuminating the darkness that slowly began swallowing the city of Pompeii. Turbulent waves started forming and began rocking the tattered ships and began moving onward towards Pompeii and Herculaneum. Terrified faces and body language of the those awaiting the clouds of death and chaos to cover them and showered the scene with grief. John Martin’s manic depression, could have played a role in the way that nature was depicted in his paintings. The dark landscapes and disastrous events that he painted could reflect how he felt within his life. Natural disasters are usually random and sudden causing as much destruction as possible, When Mt. Vesuvius erupted the citizens of Pompeii were not prepared or expecting the chaos, much like John Martin 's manic depression, he could not have …show more content…
Jonathan Martin set fire to the York Minster in 1829 due to a buzzing sound that came from within the organ, the noise bothered him deeply. These actions had put a halt on John Martin 's career, he was very busy making sure Jonathan didn 't end up getting hung and hiring legal help for him. The jury had declared that he was indeed guilty, which was punishable by death, however the judge ruled not guilty due to insanity, Jonathan was then sent to a mental hospital where he resided for nine years before he