The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by John Martin: Why Lot's Wife Turned to Salt (1852)
There is only one rule that will save your life: do not look back. In Genesis, angels pull Lot and his family out of Sodom before fire falls from the sky; the cities of the plain are erased in a single divine storm. Lot's wife turns anyway. The text gives her no name and almost no psychology - only the consequence. She becomes a pillar of salt. In 1852, the English painter John Martin made that instant into an apocalypse so large that the woman herself nearly disappears inside it: a ribbon of scarlet cloud, a city already melting, and, if you know where to look, one small human mistake at the edge of the world. Quick facts Artist: John Martin (1789-1854) Date: 1852 Medium: Oil on canvas, 136.3 x 212.3 cm Collection: Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (TWCMS: C6975) Notable fact: Martin showed the picture at the Royal Academy in 1852; Victorian viewers already knew him as the painter who made private drawing rooms feel too small for the end of the world John Martin...