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The Fall of Babylon, Cyrus the Great Defeating the Chaldean Army by John Martin (1819)
(upload.wikimedia.org)
John Martin (19 July 1789 โ 17 February 1854) was an English Romanticist painter, engraver, and illustrator. He was known for his typically vast and dramatic paintings of religious subjects and fantastic compositions, populated with minute figures placed in imposing landscapes. Martin's paintings, and the prints made from them, enjoyed great success with the general public, with Thomas Lawrence referring to him as "the most popular painter of his day". He was also criticised by John Ruskin and other critics.
What a fascinating person.