Moses and the Burning Bush, from Illustrations of the Bible 1833 England. The visionary Romantic painter John Martinís Illustrations of the Bible (1831ñ35) boasts some of the most dramatic mezzotints of the 19th century. This series enthusiastically embraced J. M. W. Turnerís ìhistoricalî category from the Liber Studiorum (1807ñ1819). Yet ìMadî Martin eschewed Turnerís sepia tonality for a deep, velvet black periodically ripped asunder by lightning bolts. He engraved over 100 mezzotints, with special attention paid to the light and dark contrasts of Old Testament miracles and disasters. Although the series remained unfinished, his taste for elaborate destruction was sometimes well remunerated when his gigantic oil painting Belshazzarís Feast (1821; private collection) was put on view soon after being made, it attracted 50,000 paying viewers.. Mezzotint in black on ivory wove paper . John Martin