Skip to main content
Advanced Search
John Martin, "Satan viewing the ascent to Heaven, from John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3, line…
Satan viewing the ascent to Heaven, from John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3, line 501
John Martin, "Satan viewing the ascent to Heaven, from John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3, line…
John Martin, "Satan viewing the ascent to Heaven, from John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3, line 501," 1824-25, mezzotint and dry point with rocker, Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of the Still Water Foundation, 1996.

Satan viewing the ascent to Heaven, from John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 3, line 501

Primary (Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England, 1789–Douglas, Isle of Man, 1854)
NationalityEnglish, Europe
Date1824-1825
MediumMezzotint and drypoint with rocker
DimensionsSheet: 14 3/4 × 10 7/8 in. (37.4 × 27.6 cm)
Additional Dimension: 14 × 10 1/8 in. (35.6 × 25.7 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Purchase through the generosity of the Still Water Foundation, 1996.263
Collection AreaPrints and Drawings
Object number1996.263
On View
Not on view
Label Text
From afar, Satan scowls at the sight of angels ascending the stairs of heaven, enveloped in extraordinary formations of clouds. Milton writes that they “ascend by degrees, magnificent” with a “frontispiece of diamond and gold embellished.” Heaven and its entry are “inimitable on earth by model, or by shading pencil, drawn.” Martin takes on the challenge and succeeds in rendering what Milton proclaims impossible: the sublime transition from earth to heaven.
Exhibitions