Belshazzar’s Feast
Belshazzar’s Feast c1826 by British Painter John Martin (1789 – 1854); a romantic painter, illustrator and engraver of religious and fantastic compositions.
This remastered image is a hand colored mixed media intaglio courtesy of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
It is a grand presentation of the story of the Biblical story The Writing on the Wall in the book of Daniel chapter 5.
The story tells us of how Belshazzar the son and Crown Prince of Nabonidus (r. 556–539 BC), the last King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, held a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple or Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem; built under King Solomon’s reign and completed in 957 BCE.
The Temple was looted and then destroyed in 586/587 BCE by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, who also deported the Jews to Babylon.
During the feast a hand appears and writes on the wall terrifying Belshazzar and those attending the feast; and he thus calls his wise men, who were unsuccessfully able to read the writing.
The queen advises Belshazzar to send for Daniel who is renowned for his wisdom, who reads and interprets the message letting Belshazzar know that for his blasphemous actions that his time of as ruler would come to an end, and his kingdom would be divided between the Medes (an ancient Iranian people) and Persians (an Iranian ethnic group).
In the piece we can see Belshazzar and the nobility gathered near a large table that is close to the throne, that has a Menorah behind it; while below we can see all the people that have attended the feast and that are eating and dancing by the dozens of massive tables, throughout the complex.
On the left hand side of the artwork is the words that have been written on the wall up high, with blazing rays of light shooting from them and in the far distance towering above everything, the Tower of Babel.
This is a retouched digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image.
Related Art You May Like:
Belshazzars Feast Engraving c1598 by Dutch Engraver Jan Harmensz. Muller – Destruction And The End Of Power
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward John Poynter – The Beauty and Majesty of Power
Kruisafneming by Valentine Green – Death and Ressurection
The Judgment of Solomon by Gustave Doré – An Astounding Use Of Wisdom