|
Anon, out of the earth, a fabrick huge
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a temple, where pilasters round
Were set, and Dorick pillars overlaid
With golden architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or freeze, with bossy sculptures graven:
The roof was fretted gold...
Mean while the winged heralds, by command
Of sovran power, with awful ceremony
And trumpets’ sound, throughout the host proclaim
A solemn council, forthwith to be held
At Pandemonium...
|
"The Building of Pandemonium". Click on any of the images to explore a high resolution version.
|
|
"The Fall of the Rebel Angels" |
This extract from John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, contains the first use of the word ‘pandemonium’. Milton coined the word to name the capital of Hell, where Satan gathered his followers; the word can be roughly translated as ‘place of all demons’.
The scene, as described by Milton, is the inspiration for a mezzotint by English artist John Martin (1789-1854), The Building of Pandemonium, one of 24 he produced on commission for editions of Paradise Lost published by Septimus Prowett between 1825 and 1827.
Fryer Library holds the octavo edition with the small plates; Martin produced two sets of 24 plates, one large and one small. The smaller set were supposed to be a reduced version of the large plates, but essentially the same; in reality, the plates do differ in composition.
|
|
"Satan and the Stairs of Heaven"
|
Martin’s illustrations use the mezzotint process to great effect. Mezzotints are generally worked from dark to light, the dark areas of the print are the least worked areas of the plate, so the artist is literally adding light to the dark. In the case of The Building of Pandemonium, the darkness is lit by hellfire, adding definition to the vast rocky cavern and lighting the huge building ‘built like a temple’. Also picked out in the light are the vast hordes of fallen angels at Satan’s command.
In other illustrations by Martin, it is the light of Heaven that banishes the darkness, an example of which is the illustration for book 3, line 501, Satan and the Stairs of Heaven. In this print, a vast staircase rises heavenward, towards another temple like building from which piercing rays of light emanate. Satan can be seen, cowering in the darkness which encroaches from the left of the image, almost as if he can’t bear to look directly at the light.
| |
"The Creation of the Sun & Moon"
|
God himself is the creator of light in The Creation of the Sun and Moon. The reference for this illustration is given as Book 7, Line 339.
Again the Almighty spake, Let there be lights
High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide
The day from night ...
and Milton himself is retelling the story of the fourth day of the creation of the world as presented in Genesis. In it, God is seen placing the sun in the heavens, with the moon and stars also shown.
The Fryer Library holds the only copy of this book in an Australian library; copies are scarce, even of the editions with larger plates. The book is the best remembered of Martin’s works, and a wonderful example of his skill.
Penny Whiteway, Fryer Library
|
|
