1851 -1903 · Conversion, innocence and Christian history

Hunt makes faith visible through concrete situations: closed doors, bright children, threatened family and encounters after the Resurrection become dramas of conscience.

Religious painting constitutes the center of William Holman Hunt's career. Unlike academicism, he wants to unite the accuracy of the world and spiritual demands. The Light of the World represents Christ crowned with thorns, holding a lantern in front of a door overgrown with vegetation. The absence of an external handle means that the soul must open itself. The Triumph of the Innocents imagines the Flight into Egypt accompanied by the luminous spirits of the children massacred by Herod; bubbles, water and procession transform pain into a vision of hope. A converted British family harbors a Christian missionary persecuted by the Druids transposes the faith into ancient Brittany and treats persecution as an immediate domestic choice. Christ and the two Marys focus on the encounter after the Resurrection, when recognition and restraint organize the gesture. Hunt often works on several versions of the same subject, sometimes for decades. His declining eyesight forces him to resort to assistants, but he maintains close control over symbol, color and finish. Travel to the Holy Land forces him to resort to assistants, but he maintains close control over symbol, color and finish. Travel to the Holy Land reinforces his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message must pass through credible material. Flower, threshold, clothing and light thus reinforce his conviction that the religious message light of the World and The Triumph of the Innocents. His reading favors drawing.

Hunt's faith never floats outside the world: it takes the form of a door, a path, a threatened body or a light in his hand.