Explore the Martin's death and exhibitions of the painting of this artwork.
While painting, on 12 November 1853, Martin suffered an attack of paralysis, now thought to have been a stroke. The attack deprived him of the ability to talk and to control his right arm, and he died at Douglas on 17 February 1854. At the time of his death, his partially unfinished three paintings were being exhibited in Newcastle. After Martin's death, his last pictures (including The End of the World) were exhibited in "London and the chief cities in England attracting great crowds". The painting was engraved in 1854 (after Martin's death) by Thomas McLean, together with two other paintings by Martin, Plains of Heaven and The Last Judgment (a group of three 'judgment pictures'). Despite wide public reception, the three paintings were rejected as vulgar by the Royal Academy. In 1945, the painting was purchased by the Tate from Robert Frank.
The Last Judgment Tate Royal Academy engraved Robert Frank