1827 -1910 · Pre-Raphaelitism, truth of nature and Christian symbol

Gem colors, meticulous vegetation and vibrant symbols make William Holman Hunt the painter most stubbornly faithful to the Pre-Raphaelite ideal.

William Holman Hunt was born in London in 1827 and died there in 1910. First employed as a clerk, he persevered in learning drawing and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1844. There he met John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In 1848, the three young artists founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to break with academic recipes and rediscover the clarity, color and sincerity that they admired in Raphael's prior art. Hunt remained the most constant defender of this ideal throughout his life. He painted slowly, often in front of the motif, under a bright light which allowed plants, textiles, reflections and objects to accumulate with equal precision. The Awakening of the consciousness shows a maintained woman who suddenly stands up in an interior saturated with clues: thrown glove, tangled son, cat threatening a bird and garden reflected in the mirror transform the psychological moment into moral drama. The Light of the World puts Christ in front of a door invaded by weeds, without an exterior handle: the night scene means that the opening must come from within. Eager to anchor sacred subjects in real places, Hunt travels several times to Egypt and the Holy Land from 1854. He travels several times to Egypt and the Holy Land from 1854. He travels several times to Egypt and the Holy Land from 1854. He studies landscapes, light, costumes and customs to give The Shadow of Death or the Scapegoat material and spiritual credibility. His late works, such as The Lady of Shalott, return to literature and complex compositions where threads, mirrors and hair visualize a crisis of consciousness. Despite the technical difficulties, the repeated versions and a declining view, Hunt continues his demand until the end. For him, the detail is never decorative: each thing observed in nature becomes the possible vehicle of a moral truth. The "William Holman Hunt" selection notably compares The Awakening of Consciousness and The Light of the World. His reading favors the material.

Hunt paints each leaf, thread and reflection as proof: fidelity to the visible must lead the gaze towards an invisible truth.