Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still

John Martin

National Gallery of Art

This grayscale print showcases a landscape with a city or palaces stretching across jagged mountains under a dramatic stormy sky. The buildings are enormous, with huge domes, layers of wide columns, and fortified walls. A huge conflict is occurring in the bottom left corner, with countless people, horses, and some animals that look like elephants. There are rows of tents in the background, in front of a hilly landscape filled with trees. Processions of people stream down the mountains from the large buildings on the right side of the print, some marching and some on horseback, all carrying tall weapons. They head towards the conflict in the bottom left. In the center of the print, towards the bottom, a group of people stand on a rocky ledge overlooking the battle. One person stands with their back to us and one arm outstretched to the sky. A ray of bright light shines on them from a break in the thick, dark clouds. This figure wears a tunic and helmet, and has a shield and sword trapped on their back.