The Conflict between Satan and Death, from John Milton's Paradise Lost, Book 2, line 727
Primary
John Martin
(Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England, 1789–Douglas, Isle of Man, 1854)
NationalityEnglish, Europe
Date1824-1825
MediumMezzotint and drypoint
DimensionsSheet: 10 7/8 × 14 11/16 in. (27.7 × 37.3 cm)
Additional Dimension: 10 3/16 × 13 11/16 in. (25.8 × 34.7 cm)
Additional Dimension: 10 3/16 × 13 11/16 in. (25.8 × 34.7 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of the Still Water Foundation, 1996.261
Rights Statement
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number1996.261
On View
Not on viewFrom the gates of hell Sin leaps up to stop these two demons—Satan and Death—from annihilating each other. Satan, with his bat-like wings, stands poised to thrust his spear, while a toad-like Death emerges shrouded in black fog. Martin hints at Death’s form, burnishing out only the whites of its eyes, unable or unwilling to define it for us.
Exhibitions
