William Holman Hunt

Happy Birthday William Holman Hunt!! English painter, William Holman Hunt was born in 1827. After leaving school early, he became an office clerk, but bored, he convinced his parents to allow him to attend the Royal Academy. He formed a group with 7 other artists, the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. Considered the first avant-garde movement in art, the brotherhood sought to reject the mechanical approach to art by Mannerist artists who followed Michelangelo and Raphael. They were fascinated with Medieval culture but also wanted to express themselves and closely observe and record Nature. Eventually the group split into two, one including Hunt and Millais focused  on realism and the other interested in Medieval depictions. The painting I am including today is titled Isabella and the Pot of Basil, after the poem by John Keats.