The Shadow of Death1873-74
In the carpenter’s workshop at Nazareth, the young Jesus straightens from his work and stretches his arms, and the evening light throws his shadow onto the wall behind him in the shape of a crucifixion. More about this work
About this work
In the carpenter’s workshop at Nazareth, the young Jesus straightens from his work and stretches his arms, and the evening light throws his shadow onto the wall behind him in the shape of a crucifixion. His mother Mary, kneeling at a chest that holds the gifts of the Magi, turns and sees it. William Holman Hunt, a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, developed the composition while living in the Holy Land and painted it more than once; the best-known version is in Manchester. Every tool and wood shaving is set down with care, so that the ordinary details of a working day carry a sense of what is to come.
Written by Ochre Editions.
What you’re looking at
A work made of oil on panel.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Oil on panel
- Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
William Holman Hunt
English, 1827–1910
Holman Hunt founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and remained the most faithful to its aims of truth to nature and serious moral purpose. Seeking authenticity for biblical subjects, he travelled several times to the Holy Land, painting The Scapegoat by the Dead Sea and The Shadow of Death in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Light of the World became one of the best-known religious images of the Victorian age.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 2021.54
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
