Queries & Comments

Millard’s Article Rates a Wow

To the Editor:

Wow! Like, out’a sight, man! I turned to Alan Millard’s article on “Daniel and Belshazzar in History,” BAR 11:03, and it gripped me all the way through. In fact, the whole issue was so intriguing that I devoured it within two days, even though it came at the end of the semester while I was gearing up for finals.

Was John Martin a Victorian Painter?

To the Editor:

The caption under the illustration on page 15 of the May/June issue in the article about Belshazzar (“Daniel and Belshazzar in History,” BAR 11:03) states that the “British Victorian artist” John Martin painted the picture in 1812.

Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and was well under twenty years of age at the time. In 1812 she had not even been born. Surely no influence to which her name can reasonably be applied had come into the life of the artist who produced that painting. I am sure you’re much more precise in using archaeological time-span nomenclature.