Love & Desire – Faith

A rare mother and daughter’s day. I am meeting mum and Michelle here at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) to discover Faith, part of the Love & Desire exhibition. I arrive early though and before they arrive too, I park the car and wander through the sculpture garden.

We are here to see the Pre Raphaelites exhibition – Love & Desire. The Pre Raphaelites Brotherhood (PRB) rejected the style of the Renaissance masters and ‘introduced extreme detail and raw truthfulness to religious, literary and historical stories and symbols which allowed the viewer to decode deeper messages. The art of the Pre Raphaelites expressed the rapid change, hopes and anxieties of a society in the process of modernization, and its impact on the world today’. Although controversial in their technique and bohemian lifestyles they nevertheless attracted followers and became internationally famous.

Faith

”Christianity was the dominant religion in nineteenth-century Britain, central to Victorian attitudes and customs, and social, moral and political questions. However, it was a time of tremendous regilious debate and even doubt. The Church of England was the official church – Catholicism was outlawed until the 1820’s – but Methodist, Baptist and Quaker groups were also important. Gradually these faiths were permitted greater religious and institutional freedoms. As new disciplines in the natural sciences influenced landscape art, archaeology and theories of evolution impacted on Christian beliefs.

Because many Pre-Raphaelite works referred to earlier Christian models, the artists were negatively aligned with Catholicism. Most of the Pre-Raphaelites tended towards atheism but their biblical subjects were designed to be recognizable to their audience. William Holman Hunt’s approach and his travels to the East were intended to bring historical accuracy to these familiar narratives, culminating in his remarkable image of Jesus, The shadow of death. The Brotherhood’s approach to the spiritual – combined with realism or modern existential, psychological and sexual themes – often produced strong criticism.”

Love & Desire – Pre Raphaelite Masterpieces from the Tate, National Gallery of Australia

Perhaps the most striking work is Hunt’s vivid portrayal of Christ as a young carpenter, combining the everyday world with profound religious symbolism. Hunt frequently explored this relationship between the spiritual and the worldly, placing biblical figures within recognisable domestic settings. Here, Christ is depicted working in his father’s carpentry shop, with his shadow falling across the wall in the shape of a crucifix – a foreboding image of the Crucifixion, noticed by both the Virgin Mary and the viewer. The painting rewards closer inspection, with carefully considered details carrying deeper religious meaning. Mary opens a casket containing the gifts of the Magi, the curve of the window frames Christ’s head like a halo, while his red headband foreshadows the crown of thorns. Together, these subtle references transform an ordinary moment into a powerful meditation on Christ’s destiny.

An Uncomfortable Annoucement

Rossetti offers an unusually intimate interpretation of one of the Bible’s most significant moments: the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will conceive and give birth to the Son of God. The painting’s delicate, pale palette recalls the simplicity of fresco painting, while its carefully chosen colours carry symbolic meaning, with blue traditionally associated with the Virgin and red evoking Christ’s future sacrifice. What makes Rossetti’s interpretation particularly compelling is his departure from conventional religious imagery. Rather than presenting Mary as serene and accepting, he portrays her as visibly unsettled and uncomfortable with the angel’s message. This deeply human response brings an unexpected vulnerability to the divine encounter, making the scene all the more affecting.

This painting depicts several of Christ’s female followers, with Mary Magdalene kneeling in the foreground. It captures the very moment they discover his empty tomb on the morning of the first Easter. The scene is drawn from the Gospel of Luke, while the title takes its words directly from the angel’s biblical declaration: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” The symbolism is woven throughout the composition, with brightly coloured flowers representing the promise of resurrection and new life. Beyond the figures, the landscape draws the eye towards the cave. In this is the suggestion of a spiritual journey from grief and loss towards faith and renewal.

The Scapegoat

A solitary goat, seemingly close to death as it sinks into the waters of the Dead Sea, dominates this haunting composition. Set against a striking landscape of purple hues, the scene carries a powerful, if initially obscure, religious message. The scapegoat represents the sins of the world, traditionally bearing them before being sent into the wilderness as an act of atonement. Hunt develops this symbolism into an allegory for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Red wool tied around the goat’s horns evoking the crown of thorns. By placing the animal in this desolate yet beautifully rendered landscape, Hunt invites us to contemplate the suffering and sacrifice of an innocent creature, while reflecting on the deeper promise of redemption.

This new style changed the way faith was viewed and interpreted at a time when faith in the context of history was the subject of much debate. In many ways, the detailed visual portrayals, even when using allegories is a link to the questions and controversial topics of the era.

It may not be as romantic as the Romantics, as restrained as the Renaissance style or as luminous as the Impressionists but the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood certainly produced a body of work that is in essence all at once bold, vivid, lustrous, desperate and sensual. Inspired by faith or the invariable questions around the topic. Love and desire indeed.

Would I Return?

Yes. Although the exhibition runs 14 December 2018 – 28 April 2019 at the National Gallery of Australia. I’m not sure I’ll get another chance.

Note that quotes and explanations in this post references to those from the NGA exhibition.