Christ in the House of His Parents
Exhibited with these words from the old testament:
And one shall say unto him, what are these wounds in thine hands?
Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of
My friends
Sir John Everett Millais
1849. Oil on canvas.
THE ORIGINAL SKETCH HAS ONLY FOUR FIGURES, AND
DOES NOT INCLUDE JOHN THE BAPTIST OR THE LADDER OR
THE DOVE IN THE BACKGROUND
Original drawing- 1850. Pencil on paper.
First, a little bit of background on. . .
JOHN MILLAIS
-born in 1829
-Youngest ever pupil at the royal academy school in art
-It was here that he met William holman Hunt and Dante
Gabriel Rossetti, and thus the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood
Was born
-was the most naturally gifted of the founders of the P.R.B.
-His art was minutely detailed and painting was a slow and laborious process
-Another famous painting of his is of Ophelia
-After he got married, he said it was no longer economically possible for him
To spend so much time on a single painting, and so changed to a broader,
Looser, more spontaneous style of painting.
-This change has been seen by many critics as a sell-out
-Went on to become one of the most successful portrait painters of Victorian
Britain
-was a great craftsman, not an intellectual. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and
Shooting
-Much of the Criticism since his death was motivated by disapproval of his
Material success
- regarded as one of the great nineteenth century artists
Ophelia
Christ in his parents house
About the painting
-picture of Christ after he has wounded himself
Trying to remove a nail from a board (foreshadowing)
-Many reminders of the Crucification: pincers, nail,
Carpenter tools and ladder
-John bringing a bowl of water is a reminder of both
Baptism and of the vinegar and gall offered to Him
As he was dying on the cross
-Bird perched on the ladder symbolizes the Holy
Ghost
-The sheep outside represent
Human beings
-the workbench represents
The communion table
-Exemplifies the early
Pre-Raphaelite use type of
Typology as a basis for
Symbolic realism
Criticism of the painting
- Millais was criticized for portraying the Holy Family as
ordinary people, that it is disrespectful and
blasphemous
- Charles Dickens called the Christ in the picture “A
Hideous wry-necked, blubbering, red-haired boy in a
night-gown”
- He also commented that the painting made the rest
of the holy family look like alcoholics and Slumdwellers
Positive response
John Ruskin- praised their devotion to
nature and rejection of conventional
methods of composition, supported
them financially and in his writings
A little soap opera like drama.
..
- Millais met Ruskins wife, Effie, and they
became friends. Soon after that she
modeled for his painting the order of
release. As he painted her they fell in
love. She filed for an annulment from
her marriage with ruskin, and then went
on to marry millais
Sources
The Victorian webwww.victorianweb.org/painting/millais/paintings/house.h
tml
The Victorian Art in Britain website
http://www.victorianartinbritain.co.uk/biog/millais.htm
The Tate Institute
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=9523
wikipedia