Saturday, May 9, 2009

William Holman Hunt - The Finding of the Savior in the Temple


1854-1860
Oil on canvas
City Art Gallery, Birmingham

2 comments:

Lucy Corrander said...

Looks more like the beginning of a game of Chinese Whispers.

A strange lack of emotion here. Mary doesn't look either worried or relieved. Jesus looks bored. And the elders look as if they're waiting for a bus or a train . . . and everytone is looking at something of their own choosing, there's nothing corporate about it.

But the man on the left holding . . . a carpet ? Surely not the Torah? . . . seems to have noticed something outside the picture which has caught his interest . . . someone is just arriving to tell them all to stand up and . . . what? pose for the camera?

Lucy

Hermes said...

Good observation Lucy, he seems more interested in the form and colours, than the content.