When I did some research into what Pre-Raphaelite paintings I might be able to find in Oxford, one jumped out as a “must see”. It’s a piece I’ve admired from high school, and I’ve never seen the original (because it’s hiding in a chapel in Oxford!).
The painting is called “The Light of the World”, by William Holman-Hunt.
In terms of Pre-Raphaelite artists, I confess that Holman-Hunt is not one of my favourites. His subject matter is often overtly Christian (I am not religious), or more grounded in Victorian reality. And there is something about how he paints faces that just doesn’t really appeal to me… it’s not something I can easily put into words – sometime I will have to just look at a series of his paintings and try to pin down what it is.
However, “The Light of the World” captured me when I was younger, and I wonder whether, subconsciously, it was one of the things that drew me to the light and dark subject matter that I love so much in my own work.
The painting is in the chapel at Keble College, in a side chapel that was built specifically for the painting. Unusually there is a second, larger version of the painting at St Pauls Cathedral – Holman Hunt painted it after he discovered Keble were charging people admission to see his original painting!
Thankfully they don’t charge any more, and because Keble College is a little walk outside the city centre it was surprisingly quiet when I was there. In fact, when I went in I was the only person in the chapel, and then the only person in the side chapel with the painting. Which made the experience even more special, because it was so quiet.
The chapel itself was beautiful, with mosaic images on the walls. The painting is not permanently lit, so when I went in to the small side chapel is was so dark I could barely tell it was there. I was a bit confused (surely they can’t display it like this?!) until I noticed a button off to the side. Pushing it illuminated the painting, which was an eye-opening experience! Unfortunately I couldn’t get as close as I’d like (I love to peer at paintings to look at the brushwork) but it was a special moment. It’s hard to describe finally seeing a painting in reality which you’ve only seen in books previously.
I’m sure you can see the connection to my own work, and I can’t believe I’m going to post this now because it feels sacreligious to post my paintings next to a master, but just to demonstrate, here’s a couple of my paintings alongside “The Light of the World” 😊
I have one more post to write about my Oxford visit, this time about the Ashmolean museum. Coming soon in pt 3…