John Martin’s painting of The Bard unites the drama of the poem by Thomas Gray (English poet, born Dec. 26, 1716, London—died July 30, 1771, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.) published in 1757, with a vision of sublime landscape.
John Martin’s painting of The Bard unites the drama of the poem by Thomas Gray (English poet, born Dec. 26, 1716, London—died July 30, 1771, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Eng.) published in 1757, with a vision of sublime landscape.
In the poem Gray narrates the story of King Edward I of England and his conquest of Wales in the late 13th century. After his victory over the Welsh, Edward decided that all the bards, the professional poets, could be dangerous if they were allowed to spread the story of the bygone power of the Welsh people and this may incite the defeated Welsh to rise up against their English masters.
Edward ordered the Bards to be slaughtered and the painting depicts the fate of the last surviving bard.