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{{Short description|Painting by William Holman Hunt}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
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| image_file= William Holman Hunt 001.jpg
| image_file= William Holman Hunt 001.jpg
| backcolor=#FBF5DF
| backcolor=#FBF5DF
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| image_size=330px
| painting_alignment=right
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| image_size=300px
| title=The Hireling Shepherd
| title=The Hireling Shepherd
| artist=[[William Holman Hunt]]
| artist=[[William Holman Hunt]]
| year=1851
| year=1851
| type=[[Oil painting|Oil on canvas]]
| medium=[[Oil painting|Oil on canvas]]
| height_metric=76.4
| height_metric=76.4
| width_metric=109.5
| width_metric=109.5
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'''''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 image has been much debated.<ref>[http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/replete/hireling.html The Victorian Web]</ref>
'''''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 image has been much debated.<ref>[http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/replete/hireling.html The Victorian Web]</ref>


==Composition==
Hunt painted the picture when he was working in close collaboration with [[John Everett Millais]], who was painting ''[[Ophelia (painting)|Ophelia]]'' at the same time in the same region of [[Surrey]]. Both paintings depict English rural scenes, the innocence of which is disturbed by subtle but profoundly threatening violations of natural harmony. In Hunt's painting, the shepherd ignores his flock of sheep, who wander over a ditch into a wheat field. This violation of boundaries is paralleled by the shepherd's physical intrusions into the personal space of the young woman, who responds in an ambiguous way that might be interpreted as complicity or as a knowing scepticism. As he shows her the moth, he places his arm round her shoulder.
Hunt painted the picture when he was living and working in close collaboration with [[John Everett Millais]], who was painting ''[[Ophelia (painting)|Ophelia]]'' at the same time near the [[Hogsmill River]] near [[Ewell]], [[Surrey]]. Both paintings depict English rural scenes, the innocence of which is disturbed by subtle but profoundly threatening violations of natural harmony. In Hunt's painting, the shepherd ignores his flock of sheep, who wander over a ditch into a wheat field. This violation of boundaries is paralleled by the shepherd's physical intrusions into the personal space of the young woman, who responds in an ambiguous way that might be interpreted as complicity or as a knowing scepticism. As he shows her the moth, he places his arm round her shoulder.


⚫
Hunt used a local country girl Emma Watkins as a model. She was known as "the [[Copt]]ic" by the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood]] because of her exotic features. Watkins travelled to London to model for Hunt to complete the picture, but returned home after she failed to establish herself independently as a model.<ref name ="ann"/> The model for the male figure is not known, but was probably a professional.<ref>Bronkhurst, J., ''William Holman Hunt: a Catalogue Raisonne'', Yale University Press, vol. 2, p. 39</ref>
==Origins and exhibition==
⚫
Hunt used a local country girl Emma Watkins as a model. She was known as "the [[Copt]]ic" by the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood]] because of her exotic features. Watkins travelled to London to model for Hunt to complete the picture, but returned home after she failed to establish herself independently as a model.<ref name ="ann"/> The model for the male figure is not known, but was probably a professional.<ref>Bronkhurst, J., ''William Holman Hunt: a Catalogue Raisonne'', Yale University Press, vol 2, p.39</ref>


When it was first displayed in the [[Royal Academy]], it was accompanied by a quotation from ''[[King Lear]]'':
When it was first displayed in the [[Royal Academy]], it was accompanied by a quotation from ''[[King Lear]]'':
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==Interpretations==
==Interpretations==
⚫
After it was exhibited, Hunt's enemies condemned the painting for its vulgarity, objecting to its portrayal of red-faced and sexually uninhibited country people. The ''[[Illustrated London News]]'' objected to the "fiery red skin" and "wiry hair" of Hunt’s peasants (22 May 1852, p.&nbsp;407). The [[Athenaeum (British magazine)|''Athenaeum'']] was particularly offended by these "rustics of the coarsest breed...flushed and rubicund" from too much cider. It insisted that "romp and rubicundity of this pair contrast with the pallor and pathos of Mr [[John Everett Millais|Millais]]’s picture [''[[Ophelia (painting)|Ophelia]]'']." (22 May 1852, pp.&nbsp;581–583)


⚫
His supporters insisted that the painting was an unvarnished image of social fact. Hunt himself, however, hinted that he had a hidden meaning in mind, a claim he elaborated upon in a letter when the painting was acquired by [[Manchester Art Gallery]].<ref>[http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=1896.29 William Holman Hunt, ''The Hireling Shepherd'', Manchester Art Gallery]</ref> Hunt asserted that he intended the couple to symbolise the pointless theological debates which occupied Christian churchmen while their "flock" went astray due to a lack of proper moral guidance. This would make the title a Biblical allusion; in the story of [[the Good Shepherd (religion)|the Good Shepherd]] (in the [[King James Version]]), the Good Shepherd is explicitly contrasted with a ''hireling'' shepherd, who has no care for the sheep [John 10:11–15].
⚫
After it was exhibited, Hunt's enemies condemned the painting for its vulgarity, objecting to its portrayal of red-faced and sexually uninhibited country people. The [[Illustrated London News]] objected to the "fiery red skin" and "wiry hair" of Hunt’s peasants (22 May 1852, p.&nbsp;407). The [[Athenaeum (magazine)|Athenaeum]] was particularly offended by these "rustics of the coarsest breed...flushed and rubicund" from too much cider. It insisted that "romp and rubicundity of this pair contrast with the pallor and pathos of Mr [[John Everett Millais|Millais]]’s picture [''[[Ophelia (painting)|Ophelia]]'']." (22 May 1852, p.&nbsp;581-3)

⚫
His supporters insisted that the painting was an unvarnished image of social fact. Hunt himself, however, hinted that he had a hidden meaning in mind, a claim he elaborated upon in a letter when the painting was acquired by [[Manchester Art Gallery]].<ref>[http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?EMUSESSID=53a37836758c453110b9d02cc584f05d&irn=195 William Holman Hunt, ''The Hireling Shepherd'', Manchester Art Gallery]</ref> Hunt asserted that he intended the couple to symbolise the pointless theological debates which occupied Christian churchmen while their "flock" went astray due to a lack of proper moral guidance. This would make the title a Biblical allusion; in the story of [[the Good Shepherd (religion)|the Good Shepherd]] (in the [[King James Version]]), the Good Shepherd is explicitly contrasted with a ''hireling'' shepherd, who has no care for the sheep [John 10:11-15].


==Literary significance==
==Literary significance==
In 1859 [[Robert Barnabas Brough]] published a short story entitled "Calmuck" in [[Charles Dickens]]' magazine ''[[Household Words]]''. It was a thinly disguised account of Hunt's experience painting the picture and of his relations with his model Emma Watkins. Some of Hunt's relatives were shocked by the apparent implication that Watkins had come to London to be with Hunt.<ref name ="ann">Amor, Anne Clark, ''William Holman Hunt: the True Pre-Raphaelite'', Constable, London, 1989, p.160.</ref> Hunt wrote an outraged letter to Dickens, who claimed to be unaware that the story was based on real events.<ref>M. C. Rintoul, ''Dictionary of real people and places in fiction'', Taylor & Francis, 1993, p.325-6.</ref>
In 1859 [[Robert Barnabas Brough]] published a short story entitled "Calmuck" in [[Charles Dickens]]' magazine ''[[Household Words]]''. It was a thinly disguised account of Hunt's experience painting the picture and of his relations with his model Emma Watkins. Some of Hunt's relatives were shocked by the apparent implication that Watkins had come to London to be with Hunt.<ref name ="ann">Amor, Anne Clark, ''William Holman Hunt: the True Pre-Raphaelite'', Constable, London, 1989, p. 160.</ref> Hunt wrote an outraged letter to Dickens, who claimed to be unaware that the story was based on real events.<ref>M. C. Rintoul, ''Dictionary of real people and places in fiction'', Taylor & Francis, 1993, pp. 325–326.</ref>


The ambiguous and irreconcilable interpretations of the painting may be a reason why the novelist [[Brian Aldiss]] used the painting in his novel ''[[Report on Probability A]]''.
[[Brian Aldiss]] used the painting as a leitmotif in his 1968 novel ''[[Report on Probability A]]''.

==See also==
* ''[[100 Great Paintings]]'', 1980 BBC series


== References ==
== References ==
<references/>
<references/>

{{William Holman Hunt}}
{{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood}}
{{Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood}}


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[[Category:Sheep in art]]
[[Category:Sheep in art]]
[[Category:Collection of Manchester Art Gallery]]
[[Category:Collection of Manchester Art Gallery]]
[[Category:Insects in art]]

Latest revision as of 02:59, 2 November 2023

The Hireling Shepherd
ArtistWilliam Holman Hunt
Year1851
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions76.4 cm × 109.5 cm (30+1⁄16 in × 43+1⁄8 in)
LocationManchester Art Gallery, Manchester

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 image has been much debated.[1]

Composition

[edit]

Hunt painted the picture when he was living and working in close collaboration with John Everett Millais, who was painting Ophelia at the same time near the Hogsmill River near Ewell, Surrey. Both paintings depict English rural scenes, the innocence of which is disturbed by subtle but profoundly threatening violations of natural harmony. In Hunt's painting, the shepherd ignores his flock of sheep, who wander over a ditch into a wheat field. This violation of boundaries is paralleled by the shepherd's physical intrusions into the personal space of the young woman, who responds in an ambiguous way that might be interpreted as complicity or as a knowing scepticism. As he shows her the moth, he places his arm round her shoulder.

Hunt used a local country girl Emma Watkins as a model. She was known as "the Coptic" by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood because of her exotic features. Watkins travelled to London to model for Hunt to complete the picture, but returned home after she failed to establish herself independently as a model.[2] The model for the male figure is not known, but was probably a professional.[3]

When it was first displayed in the Royal Academy, it was accompanied by a quotation from King Lear:

Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
Thy sheep be in the corn;
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
Thy sheep shall take no harm.

Interpretations

[edit]

After it was exhibited, Hunt's enemies condemned the painting for its vulgarity, objecting to its portrayal of red-faced and sexually uninhibited country people. The Illustrated London News objected to the "fiery red skin" and "wiry hair" of Hunt’s peasants (22 May 1852, p. 407). The Athenaeum was particularly offended by these "rustics of the coarsest breed...flushed and rubicund" from too much cider. It insisted that "romp and rubicundity of this pair contrast with the pallor and pathos of Mr Millais’s picture [Ophelia]." (22 May 1852, pp. 581–583)

His supporters insisted that the painting was an unvarnished image of social fact. Hunt himself, however, hinted that he had a hidden meaning in mind, a claim he elaborated upon in a letter when the painting was acquired by Manchester Art Gallery.[4] Hunt asserted that he intended the couple to symbolise the pointless theological debates which occupied Christian churchmen while their "flock" went astray due to a lack of proper moral guidance. This would make the title a Biblical allusion; in the story of the Good Shepherd (in the King James Version), the Good Shepherd is explicitly contrasted with a hireling shepherd, who has no care for the sheep [John 10:11–15].

Literary significance

[edit]

In 1859 Robert Barnabas Brough published a short story entitled "Calmuck" in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words. It was a thinly disguised account of Hunt's experience painting the picture and of his relations with his model Emma Watkins. Some of Hunt's relatives were shocked by the apparent implication that Watkins had come to London to be with Hunt.[2] Hunt wrote an outraged letter to Dickens, who claimed to be unaware that the story was based on real events.[5]

Brian Aldiss used the painting as a leitmotif in his 1968 novel Report on Probability A.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Victorian Web
  2. ^ a b Amor, Anne Clark, William Holman Hunt: the True Pre-Raphaelite, Constable, London, 1989, p. 160.
  3. ^ Bronkhurst, J., William Holman Hunt: a Catalogue Raisonne, Yale University Press, vol. 2, p. 39
  4. ^ William Holman Hunt, The Hireling Shepherd, Manchester Art Gallery
  5. ^ M. C. Rintoul, Dictionary of real people and places in fiction, Taylor & Francis, 1993, pp. 325–326.
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