3 Review(s)

William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) chronicled the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in this well-illustrated two-volume memoir of 1905, controversially presenting himself as the movement's founding father. Popular when first published, it illuminates the search for authenticity of treatment and depth of meaning in his own work and that of Millais, Rossetti and their circle. Stressing the contributions of himself and Millais, Hunt sets out to defend the Brotherhood's ideals, from which he never departed. After his success with The Light of the World, he survived exotic and dangerous travels to create some of the most memorable paintings of the age, such as The Scapegoat (mostly painted by the Dead Sea with a gun at hand) and The Lady of Shalott. Volume 2 covers his further visits to the Holy Land, unconventional remarriage and such later masterpieces as The Triumph of the Innocents. It culminates in a polemical 'Retrospect', linking art to nature, morality and national character.