In this study, first published in 1979, Landow contends that Hunt’s version of Pre-Raphaelitism concerned itself primarily with an elaborate system of painterly symbolism rather than with a photographic realism as has been usually supposed. Like Ruskin, Hunt believed that a symbolism based on scriptural typology – the method of finding anticipations of Christ in Hebrew history – could produce an ideal art that would solve the problems of Victorian painting. According to Hunt, this elaborate symbolism could simultaneously avoid the dangers of materialism inherent in a realistic style, the dead conventionalism of academic art, and the sentimentality of much contemporary painting. George Landow examines Hunt’s work in the context of this argument and, drawing on much unknown or previously inaccessible material, shows how he used texts, frames, and symbols to create a complex art of mediation that became increasingly visionary as the artist grew older. This book is ideal for students of art history.

This is a fundamental reassessment of the work of William Holman Hunt, and the first critical text to reproduce his pictures in color and set him on an international stage. Lavishly illustrated and engagingly written, this book answers the longstanding lack of any monograph on Hunt and will make compelling reading for undergraduate and graduate students of History of Art, Victorian Studies, English Literature and Religious Studies, as well as curators, conservators and the artist's many admirers.

"This abundantly illustrated book accompanies a major exhibition of William Holman Hunt's work. It explores the artist's vision and its relevance to contemporary audiences. Despite the great interest in Pre-Raphaelitism, it has been nearly forty years since the last exhibition devoted to Holman Hunt, one of the founders of the movement. His vision, which inspired the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, has lost neither its timeliness or significance." "The book illustrates paintings by Hunt and his associates, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Arthur Hughes, and also includes drawings, prints, photographs and textiles. It examines Hunt's work in the context of the Brotherhood, and his ideas in relation to the artistic, spiritual, intellectual, emotional and social issues of his age."--Jacket.