Fallen angel
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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I can't believe I missed English poet John Milton's 40th birthday, luckily John Coulthart reminded me of it.
John Milton (1608 – 1674) is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost, and for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica.
John, in his post used, like I would have used, a Gustave Doré as illustrations to Paradise Lost, but also has a John Martin that I did not know.
On the significance of Paradise Lost, it's safe to say that it is one of the cult fiction items of 17th century literature, along with Don Quixote (1605), Simplicissimus (1668), Letters of a Portuguese Nun (1669) and La Princesse de Clèves (1678).
Paradise Lost introduces the antihero in Western literature, by not portraying him as stupid and indulgent, but - as in Paradise Lost's case - downright evil; a precursor to 20th century psychopaths (see Fictional portrayals of psychopaths in literature).
As I said, the protagonist of this epic is an antihero, in this case the fallen angel, Satan. Milton presents Satan as an ambitious and proud being who defies his creator, omnipotent God, and wages war on Heaven, only to be defeated and cast down. Indeed, William Blake, a great admirer of Milton and illustrator of the epic poem, said of Milton that "he was a true Poet, and of the Devil's party without knowing it."
On the psychoanalytical side, Sholem Stein has remarked: "Milton worked for Oliver Cromwell and the Parliament of England and thus wrote first-hand for the Commonwealth of England. Arguably, the failed rebellion and reinstallation of the monarchy left him to explore his losses within Paradise Lost" and adds that "Milton sympathized with the Satan in this work, in that both he and Satan had experienced a failed cause."
Iconography
The first illustrations were to the fourth edition of 1688, with one engraving prefacing each book, of which up to eight of the twelve were by Sir John Baptist Medina, one by Bernard Lens, and perhaps up to four (including Books I and XII, perhaps the most memorable) by another hand. The most notable and popular illustrators of Paradise Lost are William Blake, Gustave Doré and Henry Fuseli; however, the epic's illustrators also include, among others, John Martin, Edward Burney, Richard Westall, Francis Hayman. Salvador Dalí executed a set of ten colour lithographs in 1974. Strangely, two capriccios by Gian Battista Tiepolo were used to illustrate an Italian 18th century edition. Surreal-visionary artist Terrance Lindall's rendition was published in 1982.
Der Meister zeigt sich in der Beschränkung
