Manfred on the Jungfrau (Martin)

Manfred on the Jungfrau is an 1837 watercolour painting by the English artist John Martin, now in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

The relationship between Act I scene II of Byron's poem is evident; the episode taken from this scene is this: ...And you, ye crags upon whose extreme edge I stand, and on the torrent's brink beneath Behold the tall pines dwindled as to shrubs In dizziness of distance, when a leap, A stir, a motion, even a breath, would bring My breast upon its rocky bosom's bed To rest for ever - wherefore do I pause?

How glorious in its action and itself!In the time that the artwork was created, 'man and nature' was a theme that was popular among romantic artists and writers, and influences of this are evident within this watercolour work.

Images of figures standing on cliff tops, about to throw themselves off to their death were quite common among the artworks and writings which shared this theme.

Three years after Martin completed his version, Ford Madox Brown produced another painting entitled Manfred on the Jungfrau.