Past, present and future: Visionary landscapes in John Martin's 'Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion' (1812)

John Martin's first major exhibited oil painting, Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (1812), captures the growing ambivalence towards technological, scientific, and ideological advancements sweeping turn-of-the-century England. Inspired by James Ridley's "Sadak and Kalasrade" from Tales of the Genii (1764), the painting depicts a perilous moment in the protagonist Sadak's quest for the magical Waters of Oblivion. In Ridley's tale, Sadak, while climbing up a volcano, swoons and awakens desperately clinging to the edge of a cliff. Martin's volcanic landscape simultaneously refers to the topics of industrialization, renewed belief in the unfurling Apocalypse, and current advances in evolutionary geology. In early nineteenth-century England, these complex and interlocking concerns regarding progress raised the greater question of man's place in the world. Sadak provides a prophetic vision of the state of man, caught in a cycle linking past ages, present concerns, and future possibilities in a rapidly evolving era.