Pandemonium

John Martin executed this vision of Hell's capital city in 1841, inspired by Milton's Paradise Lost. Towering temple-like structures with Babylonian and classical elements stretch along a waterfront, wreathed in flames and smoke. Fallen angels gather in this infernal parliament.

Martin used sweeping diagonal perspective to convey the city's immense scale. He even designed the frame himself, decorating it with serpents and dragons. A companion piece, "The Celestial City," was exhibited alongside it at the Royal Academy. Martin had previously made two engravings of this scene in 1824 and 1831. Now at the Louvre Museum in Paris.