Which British Romantic painter created 'The Great Day of His Wrath'?

John Martin created The Great Day of His Wrath, an apocalyptic British Romantic painting completed between 1851 and 1853.

The work is also known as The End of the World and forms one part of a triptych titled The Last Judgment. Martin drew on the Book of Revelation, presenting a world shattered by earthquakes, storms, volcanic upheaval, and divine catastrophe. Its theatrical scale and sensational subject matter made it a powerful example of Victorian Romanticism.

The painting is often discussed alongside Martin’s fascination with modern industrial life and urban expansion. His son Leopold recalled that Martin found inspiration during a night journey through England’s Black Country, although scholars differ over how directly industrialization shaped the image. Some interpretations identify the collapsing landscape with Edinburgh, while others connect it to Babylon or a more general vision of apocalypse.

A frequent mistake is attributing the work to Turner, Blake, or Constable because all are associated with British Romantic art. Martin, however, developed a distinctive style of grand, catastrophic panoramas. The painting is now in Tate Britain.