A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids
| A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids | |
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| Artist | William Holman Hunt |
| Year | 1849–1850 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 111 cm × 141 cm (44 in × 56 in) |
| Location | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford |
A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids is a painting by the English artist
Subject
Hunt's painting depicts a family of
A stone circle is noticeable behind the missionary but is visible only through gaps in the back of the hut used by the Christian family. The contrast between Christian and Druidic symbols is identified by the painting of a red cross over a stone within the Christian family's hut.
The presence of the druid presumably locates the intended period of the scene before the Roman conquest of Britain in the mid-1st century, making the missionaries very early ones indeed, although the vestment-like clothes that they wear would, even to the well-informed Victorian, suggest a much later period.
Reception
Hunt's painting was less controversial than Millais's companion piece, but Hunt was still heavily criticised for the odd composition and the contorted poses of the figures.
Hunt himself continued to believe it to be one of his best works. In 1872, referring to the painting as "the Early Xtians", he wrote in a letter to Edward Lear, stating that "sometimes when I look at the Early Xtians I feel rather ashamed that I have got no further than later years have brought me, but the truth is that at twenty – health, enthusiasm and yet unpunished confidence in oneself carries a man very near his ultimate length of tether".[1]