ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 78

ART AND ARTISTS.

"THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD."

— Holrnan Hunt's Masterpiece on Evolution in Montreal. — (Witness, May 9.)

By a purely fortuitous* chain of circumstances there were in the city together two great works of art which are emotionally and in some degree aesthetically allied. The one was Wagner's passion play. "Parsifal," and the other was Holman Hunt's painting, "The Light of the World." Both are the productions of old men wh»ch would have been lost to the world if Dr Osier's pronouncement were accurate. Wagner was 69 when he put th» crown and seal unon "Parsifal"; Holinan Hunt is 78, and he only finished "The Light of the World," which is now in the city, last year. The picture is a repetition of the one painted by Holinan Hunt between the years 1851 and 1853, which picture has for many years been in Keble College. Towards this picture there was expressed much that was adverse at first, both on tho part of the Church and the laity. The Church objected that it vyas too naturalistic, the laity objected to its eoclesiasticism ; while many of the art critics banned and' barred the whole school of pre-Raphaelite painters, of which Holman Hunt was one of the three founders. Ruskin, however, wrote vigorously in eulogy of the painting, and Ruskin's voice told. What Ruskin wrote is worth repeating, in part. He said: —

"The legond beneath it is the beautiful verse, ' Eehold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hoar my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him. and will sup with him, and he with me.' (Rev. in. 20.) On the left-hand side of the picture >s seen this door of th© human, soul. It is fast barred ; its bars and nails arerusty; it is knitted and bound to its stanchions by creeping tendrils of ivy, bhowing thai it has never been opened. A bat hovers about it; its threshold is overgrown with bramble=, nettles, and friiitlo--^ corn — tL-e wild grast, 'whereof tho mower filleih not his hand, nor ho that bindeth sheavos his bosom.' Christ, approaches it in the night-time — Christ in His eveilaitino offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. He wears the white robe representing Ih^ power of the- Spirit uuon Him; the jewelled

robe and breastplate representing the sacerdotal investiture; the rayed crown of gold) inwoven with the crown of thorns; not dead thorns, but now bearing soft leaves, for the healing of the nations. Now, when Christ enters any human heart He bears with Him a two-fold light.. First, the light of 'conscience, wsich displays past sin, and afterwards the light of peace, the hope of salvation. The lantern carried in Christ's left hand is the light of conscience. Its fire is red and fierce ; it falls only on the closed door, on the weed* which encumber it, and on an apple shaken from one o£ the trees of the orchard, thus marking that the en Lire awakening- of the conscience is not merely to committed but to hereditary) guilt. This light is su wended by a chain, wrapt about the wrist of the figure, showing that the light which reveals sin appears to the sinner also to chain the hand of Christ. The light which proceeds from the head of the figure, on the contrary, is that of the hope of salvation ; it springs from the crown "of thorns, and though itself sad, -subdued and full of softness, is yet so powerful that it entirely melts into tho glow of the forms of the leaves and boughs, which it crosses, showing that every earthly object must be hidden by this light where its sphere extends. I believe there are few persons on whom this picture, thus justly understood, will not produce a deep' impression. For my part, I think it one of the very noblest works of sacred art ever produced in this or any other age." Of the repetition, the picture now in Montreal, Dr F J. Furnival wrote when ft was first exhibited in Holman Hunt's studio : - "To me, an agnostic, as to the Christian believer, the symbolism of the picture is superb, its execution triumphant-, its appeal overpowering. I claim that this new 'Light of the World ' is the oulmination and crown of Victorian English art—nay, the greatest that our country has ever produced, and fit to range with the most glorious creations the world has ever seen." This is indeed high praise coining from such a man, and is entitled to all respee.t.

A most interesting circumstance in connection with the picture is the why and wherefore of its travels. Among the first to see it was Mr Chf.rles Booth, the wellknown philanthroTiisfc and wxiter on London labour and the poor. The artist's noble work especially app-ealed to him. Mr Hunt told him he could hardly hope to cell xha picture, because he should make it a condition that the buyer should not only leave it to a public gallery after his death, but should sp<?edily send it out to South Africa to preach its message to tho Boers, whose c-lergv wore still keeping up their enmity to the British. Mr Booth, however, not only agreed to these conditions, but undertook to send it also to Canada and the othsr colonies, and then lcaA'e it to the Tate Gallery after his death, meanwhile taking care that careful reproductions of it in colour should be everywhere on sale at mod-erato "prices. Thereupon, copies were made by two well-known firms at FJt.'nam 1 and Enfield, and the original was sent on its mission through tho world? — to speak to millions of ths painter's fellow-countrymen and these who use his English speech, to speak the message of his heart and life, "that tho light shall lighten every soul that opens its door to the knock of the light-bearer, and porn.es out of its darkness into the Sun of Life."

The picture has been hung in the ArtGallery, and is in the chargr of Mr Percy O. M. Fennel], who is the representative of the Right Hon. Charles Booth, P.C., F.R.S. The object of the tour is that all shall see it, and none be refused. The 25 cents charge is merely to help pay part of the expenses. The picture is lighted frora the top by ireans of electricity, and everythir.g- is done to preserve its pathetio charm and dignity.