William Holman Hunt
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William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an
English painter The following is a list of notable English and British painters (in chronological order). English painters Born 16th century *George Gower (c. 1540–1596) *Nicolas Hilliard (1547–1619) *Sir Nathaniel Bacon (1585–1627) *Cornelis Jansse ...
and one of the founders of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. These features were influenced by the writings of
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
and
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
, according to whom the world itself should be read as a system of visual signs. For Hunt it was the duty of the artist to reveal the correspondence between sign and fact. Of all the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Hunt remained most true to their ideals throughout his career. He was always keen to maximise the popular appeal and public visibility of his works.


Biography

Born at
Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...
,
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, as William Hobman Hunt, to warehouse manager William Hunt (1800–1856) and Sarah (c. 1798–1884), daughter of William Hobman, of
Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...
Hunt adopted the name "Holman" instead of "Hobman" when he discovered that a clerk had misspelled the name that way after his baptism at the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell. The Hobman family were wealthy, and it was thought that Sarah had made an unequal marriage. After eventually entering the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
art schools, having initially been rejected, Hunt rebelled against the influence of its founder
Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
. He formed the
Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
movement in 1848, after meeting the poet and artist
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
. Along with
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
they sought to revitalise art by emphasising the detailed observation of the natural world in a spirit of quasi-religious devotion to truth. This religious approach was influenced by the spiritual qualities of
medieval art The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, gen ...
, in opposition to the alleged rationalism of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
embodied by
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
. He had many pupils including Robert Braithwaite Martineau. Hunt married twice. After a failed engagement to his model
Annie Miller Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt ...
, in 1861 he married Fanny Waugh, who later modelled for the figure of ''Isabella''. When, at the end of 1866, she died in childbirth in Italy, he sculpted her tomb at
Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...
, having it brought down to the English Cemetery in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, beside the tomb of
Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...
. He had a close connection with St. Mark's Church in Florence, and paid for the communion chalice inscribed in memory of his wife. His second wife, Edith, was Fanny's youngest sister. At the time it was illegal in Great Britain to marry one's deceased wife's sister, so the two of them travelled abroad and married at
Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...
(in
francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
Switzerland) in November 1875. This led to a grave conflict with other family members, notably his former Pre-Raphaelite colleague
Thomas Woolner Thomas Woolner (17 December 1825 – 7 October 1892) was an English sculptor and poet who was one of the founder-members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was the only sculptor among the original members. After participating in the found ...
, who had once been in love with Fanny and had married the middle sister, Alice Waugh. Hunt's works were not initially successful, and were widely attacked in the art press for their alleged clumsiness and ugliness. He achieved some early note for his intensely naturalistic scenes of modern rural and urban life, such as ''
The Hireling Shepherd ''The Hireling Shepherd'' (1851) is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt. It represents a shepherd neglecting his flock in favour of an attractive country girl to whom he shows a death's-head hawkmoth. The meaning of the ...
'' and ''
The Awakening Conscience ''The Awakening Conscience'' (1853) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the English artist William Holman Hunt, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which depicts a woman rising from her position in the lap of a man and gazing trans ...
''. However, it was for his religious paintings that he became famous, initially '' The Light of the World'' (1851–1853), now in the chapel at
Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
, England; a later version (1900) toured the world and now has its home in
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, London. Hunt worked at his home in Prospect Place (now
Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk is an historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted ...
),
Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...
. In the mid-1850s Hunt travelled to the
Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
in search of accurate topographical and ethnographical material for further religious works, and to employ his "powers to make more tangible Jesus Christ’s history and teaching"; there he painted ''
The Scapegoat A scapegoat is a goat used in a religious ritual or the victim of scapegoating, the singling out of a party for unmerited blame. Scapegoat or The Scapegoat may also refer to: Places * Scapegoat Wilderness, a Wilderness Area in Montana ** Scapeg ...
'', ''
The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple ''The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple'' (1854–1860) is a painting by William Holman Hunt intended as an ethnographically accurate version of the subject traditionally known as " Christ Among the Doctors", an illustration of the child Jesus ...
'', and ''
The Shadow of Death ''The Shadow of Death'' is a religious painting by William Holman Hunt, on which he worked from 1870 to 1873, during his second trip to the Holy Land. It depicts Jesus as a young man prior to his ministry, working as a carpenter. He is shown ...
'', along with many landscapes of the region. Hunt also painted many works based on poems, such as ''
Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
'' and ''
The Lady of Shalott "The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...
''. He eventually built his own house in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. He eventually had to relinquish painting because failing eyesight meant that he could not achieve the quality that he wanted. His last major works, including a large version of '' The Light of the World'' hanging in
St.Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, were completed with the help of his assistant,
Edward Robert Hughes Edward Robert Hughes (5 November 1851 – 23 April 1914) was a British painter, who primarily worked in watercolours, but also produced a number of oil paintings. He was influenced by his uncle and artist, Arthur Hughes who was associated ...
. Hunt died on 7 September 1910 and was buried in
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
in London.


Awards and commemoration

Hunt published an autobiography in 1905. Many of his late writings are attempts to control the interpretation of his work. That year, he was appointed to the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
by
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
. At the end of his life he lived in
Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geogr ...
-on-
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. His personal life was the subject of
Diana Holman-Hunt Diana Holman-Hunt (25 October 1913 – 10 August 1993) was an English memoir writer and art critic. Holman-Hunt was the granddaughter of painter William Holman Hunt, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. Her first marriage was t ...
's book ''My Grandfather, his Life and Loves''. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was depicted in two
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
s. The first, ''
The Love School ''The Love School'' (broadcast in the U.S. as ''The Brotherhood'') is a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 1975 about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by John Hale, Ray Lawler, Robin Chapman and John Prebble. It was direc ...
'', in 1975, starred
Bernard Lloyd Bernard Lloyd (30 January 1934 – 12 December 2018) was a Welsh actor noted for his television roles. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Perhaps his most famous role was as The Tr ...
as Hunt. The second was ''
Desperate Romantics ''Desperate Romantics'' is a six-part television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, first broadcast on BBC Two between 21 July and 25 August 2009. The series somewhat fictionalised the lives and events depicted. Though heavil ...
'', in which Hunt is played by Rafe Spall.BBC
, ''BBC Drama Production presents Desperate Romantics for BBC Two'' Facing
Mar Elias Monastery Mar Elias Monastery ( he, מנזר אליהו הקדוש, ar, دير مار إلياس, Deir Mar Elias) is a Greek Orthodox monastery in south Jerusalem, on a hill overlooking Bethlehem and Herodium. History According to Christian tradition, E ...
is a stone bench erected by the wife of the painter, who painted some of his major works at this spot. The bench is inscribed with biblical verses in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
,
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
.


Partial list of works

*''
A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids ''A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids'' is a painting by William Holman Hunt that was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 and is now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. It was a compan ...
'' (1850) *''
Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus ''Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus'' is an 1851 oil painting by William Holman Hunt. It depicts a scene from William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona''. The top left and right portions of the frame include excerpts from act V, sc ...
'' (1851) *''
The Awakening Conscience ''The Awakening Conscience'' (1853) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the English artist William Holman Hunt, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which depicts a woman rising from her position in the lap of a man and gazing trans ...
'' (1853) *'' The Light of the World'' (1854) *''
The Scapegoat A scapegoat is a goat used in a religious ritual or the victim of scapegoating, the singling out of a party for unmerited blame. Scapegoat or The Scapegoat may also refer to: Places * Scapegoat Wilderness, a Wilderness Area in Montana ** Scapeg ...
'' (1856) *''
The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple ''The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple'' (1854–1860) is a painting by William Holman Hunt intended as an ethnographically accurate version of the subject traditionally known as " Christ Among the Doctors", an illustration of the child Jesus ...
'' (1860) *''
The Shadow of Death ''The Shadow of Death'' is a religious painting by William Holman Hunt, on which he worked from 1870 to 1873, during his second trip to the Holy Land. It depicts Jesus as a young man prior to his ministry, working as a carpenter. He is shown ...
'' (1871) *''
The Importunate Neighbour The Parable of the Friend at Night (also known as the Parable of the Friend at Midnight or of the Importunate Neighbour) is a parable of Jesus which appears in . In it, a friend eventually agrees to help his neighbor due to his persistent demands ...
'' (1895) *'' The Miracle of the Holy Fire'' (1899)


Gallery

File:William Holman Hunt - The Lantern Maker's Courtship, A Street Scene in Cairo - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Lantern Maker's Courtship, A Street Scene in Cairo'' (1854–56) File:William Holman Hunt - Christ and the two Marys - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Christ and the two Marys'' (1847 and 1897) File:William Holman Hunt 001.jpg, ''
The Hireling Shepherd ''The Hireling Shepherd'' (1851) is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt. It represents a shepherd neglecting his flock in favour of an attractive country girl to whom he shows a death's-head hawkmoth. The meaning of the ...
'' (1851) File:William Holman Hunt - Portrait of Fanny Holman Hunt.jpg, ''Portrait of Fanny Holman Hunt'' (1866–67) File:Basilpot.jpg, '' Isabella and the Pot of Basil'' (1868) File:William Holman Hunt - The Birthday.jpg, ''The Birthday'' (1868) File:William Holman Hunt - Amaryllis.jpg, ''Amaryllis'' (1884) File:William Holman Hunt - May Morning on Magdalen Tower.jpg, ''May Morning on Magdalen Tower'' (1890) File:Holman-Hunt, William, and Hughes, Edward Robert - The Lady of Shalott - 1905.jpg, ''
The Lady of Shalott "The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...
'' (1905) File:William Holman Hunt - The Scapegoat.jpg, ''
The Scapegoat A scapegoat is a goat used in a religious ritual or the victim of scapegoating, the singling out of a party for unmerited blame. Scapegoat or The Scapegoat may also refer to: Places * Scapegoat Wilderness, a Wilderness Area in Montana ** Scapeg ...
'' (1856)


See also

*
English school of painting English art is the body of visual arts made in England. England has Europe's earliest and northernmost ice-age cave art. Prehistoric art in England largely corresponds with art made elsewhere in contemporary Britain, but early medieval Anglo-Sa ...
*
List of Pre-Raphaelite paintings This is a list of paintings produced by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and other artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite style. The term "Pre-Raphaelite" is used here in a loose and inclusive fashion. PRB members James Collinson ...
*
List of Orientalist artists This is an incomplete list of artists who have produced works on Orientalist subjects, drawn from the Islamic world or other parts of Asia. Many artists listed on this page worked in many genres, and Orientalist subjects may not have formed a m ...
*
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

*
''William Holman Hunt's The Scapegoat: Rite of Forgiveness/Transference of Blame''Works by Holman Hunt at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery's Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource
* William Holman Hunt Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Holman Hunt Manuscripts
John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
,
University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
*Archival Material at {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, William Holman 1827 births 1910 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Artists' Rifles soldiers Burials at St Paul's Cathedral Christian artists English Christians Members of the Order of Merit People from Sonning Pre-Raphaelite painters Orientalist painters 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists