In my mind, Paradise Lost and Gustave Doré's illustrations are inseparable, similar to Alice in Wonderland with John Tenniel's. It's because I experienced these

In my mind, Paradise Lost and Gustave Doré's illustrations are inseparable, similar to Alice in Wonderland with John Tenniel's. It's because I experienced these books with the words and images together, as an integrated multimedia work. So, to me, illustrations for these works by other artists almost always feel derivative and "off", rarely reaching the perfection of the original experience. But then, John Martin's illustrations for Paradise Lost are from 1824, before Doré in 1866, so they're definitely not derivative. If anything, Doré was probably influenced by them. John Martin brings a unique worldview and aesthetics, and it's quite striking to experience scenes from the poem in a (for me) new way. I especially like how he depicts the struggle of light and dark, and the grand panoramic scenery with scale and depth.