Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/344

 'the best picture of the year,' and asked permission to call on him. In August Holman Hunt acceded to Rossetti's request to work under him in his studio in Cleveland Street, Fitzroy Square. For the following nine years the two artists remained on intimate terms. To Holman Hunt Rossetti owed his introduction to Millais.

In the autumn of 1848 the three young men laid the foundation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a movement of wide significance which sought a new veracity in art. Ford Madox Brown [q. v. Suppl. I] was already working independently in the same direction. But Brown never joined the Brotherhood, of which Holman Hunt was at the outset the moving spirit, being ardently seconded by Millais. Rossetti was soon recruited, and suggested developments. Subsequently Thomas Woolner, W. M. Rossetti, James Collinson, and F. G. Stephens were admitted to the band. The title of the Brotherhood, and its initial-mark, P.R.B., were formally adopted in 1849. These seven men alone formed the genuine Brotherhood, although various other artists have from time to time been erroneously credited with membership. After the death of Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1882, much controversy took place as to the relative responsibilities of Holman Hunt and others in initiating the movement. Rossetti, whose intimacy with Holman Hunt declined after 1857, was then represented to be its creator, while Ford Madox Brown was also put forward as the source of inspiration. Many influences were doubtless at work, but Millais alone can share with Holman Hunt the honours of parentage of the P.R.B., and Dante Rossetti's place was no more than that of first and chief disciple of these two. As Holman Hunt was the original conceiver, so was he the most faithful member of the little school, carrying on its principles without relaxation to the end of his long life.

The first thoroughly Pre-Raphaelite picture which Holman Hunt completed was 'Rienzi,' which was hung in the Academy of 1849 as a pendant to Millais' s 'Isabella.' It was not sold at the exhibition, but on its return to Holman Hunt's studio Augustus Leopold Egg, R.A. [q. v.], found a customer for it at 1051!. in a collector named Gibbons, through whom it passed to F. W. Cosens. It is now the property of Thomas Clarke. Holman Hunt was at the time threatened with distraint by his landlord, and the 105l. proved of great service.

At the end of 1849 Holman Hunt went abroad for the first time. He and Rossetti together visited Paris and afterwards Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. Holman Hunt's admiration was chiefly stirred in France by Delaroche, Flandrin, and Ingres. On returning to England he moved into new lodgings near old Chelsea church. While there he took his share in starting the Pre-Raphaelite organ 'The Germ,' the first number of which, issued on 1 Jan. 1850, opened with an etching by Holman Hunt — two subjects on a single plate, in illustration of a poem by Woolner ; a copy of the etching is at the Tate Gallery. Meanwhile Holman Hunt was working on his picture of 'Christians escaping from Druid Persecution,' which was exhibited at the Academy in 1850. For the first time the Brotherhood roused a storm of censure among the critics, including Dickens (in 'Household Words'), and Holman Hunt's contribution shared the general denunciation. No buyer was found for it at the Academy, but Millais later in the year met casually at Oxford Thomas Combe [q. v.] of the Clarendon Press, who, on Millais's suggestion, bought it for 100 guineas. Combe, who left this and other pictures by Holman Hunt to the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, thenceforth proved an invaluable friend to the painter, who was frequently entertained by Combe and his wife at Oxford.

At this period Holman Hunt was greatly depressed by want of substantial recognition, and fell into debt. He contemplated giving up art for farming. An offer to (Sir) Austen Henry Layard [q. v. Suppl. I] to accompany him as draughtsman on his archaeological exploration of Nineveh arrived too late. He accepted employment, however, from William Dyce [q. v.] in copying and restoring old masters, and took Robert Braithwaite Martineau [q. v.] as a pupil. In the meantime, in 1851, he improved his position by exhibiting at the Royal Academy 'Valentine rescuing Sylvia from Proteus,' a scene from Shakespeare's 'Two Gentlemen of Verona.' The first design for the picture had been made in the previous October, when Holman Hunt, Rossetti, and F. G. Stephens were staying together at Sevenoaks painting sylvan backgrounds in Knole Park. The Sylvia was studied from Eleanor Siddal (afterwards Rossetti's wife), and the Valentine from James Lennox Hannay, subsequently a London magistrate. This notable picture was attacked by 'The Times,' but happily and unexpectedly it found a powerful defender in John Ruskin [q. v. Suppl. I], who