Henrique Alvim Corrêa's Martian Invasion — War of the Worlds, 1906

A brooding sepia-and-charcoal palette of deep blacks and sulfurous yellows saturates this nightmare scene with dread and helplessness. Two human figures are overwhelmed inside a collapsed shelter — one man prostrate and ensnared by serpentine Martian tentacles, another crouching in anguished despair. A tripod war machine looms in the shadowed left background, its alien machinery unmistakable, while bulbous Martian forms crowd the right. Through a jagged breach, the conquered cityscape glows beneath an eerie pale sky, confirming humanity's utter defeat.