The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-08-31 00:00:00

THE FINE ARTS

THREE PAINTINGS BY Mn
---• MARTIN, UNION-ROOMS
. -

Three paintings by Mr. J. Martin are now exhibiting a
the Union-rooms, Slater-street. The subjects are, " Pan
demonium." " The Bowers of Bliss," and " The Deluge.'
Like all Mr. Martin's works, they exhibit a vigour of ima.
gination, a brilliancy of fancy and wildness, freedom an(
thought, that at once stamp them with the true impress o
genius. No common painter is Mr. Martin ; he is the artist
of an age—a Milton on canvas ; and we have always thought,
on looking at his works, that a century hence the possessors
of any of them will be considered to hold rare productions,
and worth their weight in gold.
The awful subject of the deluge has been frequently made
available by the painter, both iu olden and modern times.
Mr. Martin has painted it three times. One picture was
called " The Eve of the Deluge"—the second, " The Sub-
siding of the Deluge"—and the third is that we have now
the pleasure and gratification to inspect. In it the painter
has endeavoured—and we consider he has succeeded in so
doing—to convey to the eye and mind of the spectator the
progress of the mighty deluge. He has shown us the tor-
rents pouring from the murky and storm-driven clouds—
meeting, as it were, the currents welling up from the bosom
of the disordered earth. To the left is a fall of waters, a
perfect Niagara, which appears to sweep myriads of people
into the yawning gulph. To the right is the lightning rend-
ing a rock, the fragments falling in immense masses. In the
distance, which is admirably arranged, the flood is seen pre-
vailing in all directions ; in the foreground, upon a rock, are
seen, seated or lying prostrate, in all the various phases of
despair, the wretched families of the earth, whose impending
fate no power can avert. Remorse, terror, and horror ap-
pear to reign in the various countenances, presenting a ter-
rific and awful spectacle. In a deep cavern the eyes of mon-
strous antediluvian creatures appear crouching in the extre-
mity of their fear. In the midst of the crowds of people
may be seen mammoth and behemoth, adding to the awful
scene by their piercing cries. The idea of placing the ark
on a rock, midway between the flood and the top of the pic-
ture, where Ararat is seen through the bright clouds, is ex-
tremely tine and poetical, as it shows at once the height the
waters must rise before it can rest on that high mountain.
The details of this great picture are wonderfully painted.
The sun, moon, and comet are extraordinary portions of the
work. the sun especially. On examination it appears like a
blazing opaque and luminous body. The lurid glare it
throws around is awfully sublime. The whole picture is
painted with great care. There is a blilliant and mellow
tone of colour about the groups in the middle ground, that
is very striking. The light throughout is finely distributed
—the shadows deep and most effective. In fine, this is a
wonderful picture, and might alone render the artist immor-
tal

The next painting we shall notice, in strong contrast to
this, is a fairy-land picture called the " Bowers of Bliss.
In the foreground a most exquisite undulating country is
seen, composed of forest and glade, with a most pure and
sunshiny light thrown upon it. Here are seated groups of
happy spirits, two of which, with gorgeous wings, appear on
their way to meet another bright creature, which we may
suppose to have flown from the aerial cities we see shadowing
in the atmospheric distance. The background is occupied
by a most pellucid and snakelike river—a noble cliff, covered
overhbeaganutifing it at its embouchure ;
on te top wit herbae,t the
while far awayh g
to the left landscape extends.
This most enchanting picture is just such an one as we
might see in our dreams, and which Leigh Hunt's sweet pen
only could describe, to convey an idea of it to a distant
reader. It is the most vivid embodiment of an imaginative
scene we ever beheld. The colours are of a sweet tone, and
of the most harmonious tints. Shadows there are none, to
be called so ; they are such dear obscures,. that they seem
but faint shades of shadows.
The third picture is an awful subject, taken from Milton,
representing Satan mustering his armies before the walls of
Pandemonium. This picture must be seen—we will not de-
scribe it now, but conclude with recommending all lovers of
art to see Mr. Martin's pictures. If they are not pleased,
they will be fastidious indeed.

SA.Nnwtcn.—Sir T. Troubridge, a whig, is about to
vacate his seat for this borough. A staunch conservative
will be brought, and it is not expected the radicals will offer
any opposition.