Art, literature & history
Ruins of an Ancient City
c. 1810–20
- Dating
- Approximate date range
- Held at
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Medium
- oil on paper, mounted on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 118.5 x 142 x 8 cm (46 5/8 x 55 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 95.6 x 118.6 cm (37 5/8 x 46 11/16 in.)
- Collection no.
- 1981.13
- Attribution
- By the artist
- Image rights
- CC0 1.0License details
John Martin. Ruins of an Ancient City. The Cleveland Museum of Art. CC0 1.0. Compressed full-frame reproduction.
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
About this artwork
Ruins of an Ancient City — John Martin. c. 1810–20.
Medium: oil on paper, mounted on canvas. Dimensions: Framed: 118.5 x 142 x 8 cm (46 5/8 x 55 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 95.6 x 118.6 cm (37 5/8 x 46 11/16 in.).
Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.
The painting depicts an imagined scene of a ruined ancient city bathed in the nostalgic glow of twilight. The artist's detailed, almost archeological, interest in these Greek or Roman buildings is characteristic of neoclassicism, although the composition—which plunges suddenly from the foreground into a deep valley—and dramatic lighting are typical of Romantic painting.
Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.
Location checked Sep 10, 2026. This does not indicate whether the work is on display.