"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Kriz, Kay Dian"@en . "2010-05-29T17:02:53Z"@en . "1984"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "The Hire 1ing Shepherd represented William Holman Hunt's first effort at producing a modern landscape with a moral theme. To date scholarship has focused exclusively on interpreting the work's complex iconography. Such a narrow approach fails to consider the more fundamental issue of how the painting functioned within the context of the rural landscape tradition as it existed in mid-Victorian England. This present investigation will address this problem by analyzing The Hireling Shepherd in concert with its critical reception and the relevant historical circumstances which surrounded its production.\r\nAn assessment of the critical response to the painting clearly indicates that Hunt's coarse, idle, rural lovers disturbed and angered a large segment of the predominantly urban, middle-class audience that viewed it at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1852. To make sense of this response it is necessary to determine first what constituted acceptable rural imagery. An examination of prints, songs, and literary descriptions, as well as paintings, reveals that a remarkably congruent vision of the countryside as a place of peace, virtue, social harmony, and plenty was presented to the urban public as an accurate representation of contemporary rural life. This normative vision was predicated upon viewer needs and expectations which, in turn, were strongly affected by the economic status of agriculture in this period, and by related social and political issues. Hunt's image, therefore, is discussed in relationship to other, more acceptable rustic landscapes and analyzed in the context of contemporary agricultural issues.\r\nDespite its generally hostile reception in the conservative and centrist press, The Hireling Shepherd did have admirers, who also wrote favorably of the two other major Pre-Raphaelite works in the exhibition, Millais' Ophelia and A Huguenot. An examination of the reviews received by these three paintings together with other contemporary writings on Pre-Raphaelitism indicates that admirers tended to be politically liberal, scientifically-oriented intellectuals. They expressed a marked preference for the highly particularized and scientifically accurate detailing of these works as opposed to the more generalized and idealized effects of paintings produced in the academic tradition established by Joshua Reynolds and perpetuated by Charles Eastlake.\r\nHaving identified the public for Hunt's rustic landscape, it is necessary to understand why this group wished to promote this type of painting. A scrutiny of writings by some of the most ardent supporters of The Hireling Shepherd and other like-minded intellectuals discloses similar beliefs in the value of scientific methodology as an instrument of social and moral progress. On an artistic level The Hireling Shepherd mediates these various ideas by suggesting that a \"truthful\" composition rendered with scientifically accurate detail is a better vehicle for revealing moral truth than the \"false\" idealizations of academic classicism.\r\nThe results of this investigation indicate that Holman Hunt's refusal to promote an affirmative vision of rural England was prompted by his moral commitment to an art based on scientific observation and delineation. As a consequence The Hireling Shepherd challenged traditional assumptions about the nature and purpose of rustic landscape painting and at the same time activated an even larger conflict concerning the role of science as an instrument for maintaining ideological control of English society."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/25162?expand=metadata"@en . "THE NATURAL HISTORY OF AN ENGLISH ARCADIA: HOLMAN HUNT'S THE HIRELING SHEPHERD, THE RURAL TRADITION, AND PRE-DARWINIAN SCIENCE By \u00E2\u0080\u00A2(c) KAY DIAN KRIZ B. S., Indiana University, 1966; B. A., Western Washington University, 1981 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Fine Arts) We accept t h i s thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1984 Copyright Kay Dian Kriz, 1984 In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. I t i s understood that copying or publication of t h i s thesis for f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Fine A r t s The University of B r i t i s h Columbia 1956 Main Mall Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Y3 September 23, 1984 Date DE-6 (3/81) ABSTRACT The Hire 1ing Shepherd represented W i l l i a m Holman Hunt's f i r s t e f f o r t at producing a modern landscape with a moral theme. To date scholarship has focused e x c l u s i v e l y on interpreting the work's complex iconography. Such a narrow approach f a i l s to c o n s i d e r the more fundamental i s s u e of how the p a i n t i n g functioned within the context of the r u r a l landscape t r a d i t i o n as i t existed i n mid-Victorian England. This present i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i l l address t h i s problem by analyzing The H i r e l i n g Shepherd i n concert with i t s c r i t i c a l reception and the relevant h i s t o r i c a l circumstances which surrounded i t s production. An assessment of the c r i t i c a l response to the p a i n t i n g c l e a r l y i n d i c a t e s that Hunt's coarse, i d l e , r u r a l l o v e r s disturbed and angered a large segment of the predominantly urban, m i d d l e - c l a s s audience that viewed i t at the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n of 1852. To make sense of t h i s response i t i s necessary to determine f i r s t what constituted acceptable r u r a l imagery. An e x a m i n a t i o n of p r i n t s , songs, and l i t e r a r y d e s c r i p t i o n s , as w e l l as p a i n t i n g s , r e v e a l s that a remarkably congruent v i s i o n of the countryside as a place of peace, virtue, s o c i a l harmony, and plenty was presented to the urban p u b l i c as an accurate r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of contemporary r u r a l l i f e . T h i s n o r m a t i v e v i s i o n was p r e d i c a t e d upon viewer needs and expectations which, i n turn, were s t r o n g l y a f f e c t e d by the economic status of a g r i c u l t u r e i n t h i s period, and by r e l a t e d s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l i s s u e s . Hunt's image, t h e r e f o r e , i s discussed i n r e l a t i o n s h i p to other, more acceptable r u s t i c i i l a n d s c a p e s and a n a l y z e d i n the c o n t e x t of contemporary a g r i c u l t u r a l issues. Despite i t s generally h o s t i l e reception in the conservative and c e n t r i s t press, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd did have admirers, who a l s o wrote favorably of the two other major Pre-Raphaelite works i n the e x h i b i t i o n , M i l l a i s ' Ophe ]_ i.a_ and A Huguenot. An examination of the reviews r e c e i v e d by these three p a i n t i n g s together with other contemporary w r i t i n g s on Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m i n d i c a t e s that admirers tended to be p o l i t i c a l l y l i b e r a l , s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d i n t e l l e c t u a l s . They expressed a marked preference f o r the h i g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d and s c i e n t i f i c a l l y a c c u r a t e d e t a i l i n g of t h e s e works as opposed t o the more g e n e r a l i z e d and i d e a l i z e d e f f e c t s of p a i n t i n g s produced i n the academic t r a d i t i o n established by Joshua Reynolds and perpetuated by Charles Eastlake. Having i d e n t i f i e d the public for Hunt's r u s t i c landscape, i t i s necessary to understand why t h i s group wished to promote t h i s type of p a i n t i n g . A s c r u t i n y of w r i t i n g s by some of the most ardent supporters of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd and other l i k e -minded i n t e l l e c t u a l s d i s c l o s e s s i m i l a r b e l i e f s in the value of s c i e n t i f i c methodology as an instrument of s o c i a l and moral progress. On an a r t i s t i c l e v e l The H i r e l i n g Shepherd mediates these various ideas by suggesting that a \" t r u t h f u l \" composition rendered with s c i e n t i f i c a l l y accurate d e t a i l i s a b e t t e r v e h i c l e for revealing moral truth than the \" f a l s e \" i d e a l i z a t i o n s of academic classicism. The r e s u l t s of t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n d i c a t e that Holman Hunt's refusal to promote an affirmative v i s i o n of r u r a l England i i i was prompted by h i s moral commitment t o an a r t based on s c i e n t i f i c o b s e r v a t i o n and d e l i n e a t i o n . As a consequence The H i r e l i n g Shepherd challenged t r a d i t i o n a l assumptions about the nature and purpose of r u s t i c landscape p a i n t i n g and at the same time a c t i v a t e d an even l a r g e r c o n f l i c t concerning the r o l e of science as an instrument for maintaining i d e o l o g i c a l control of E n g l i s h society. i v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i i L I S T OF ILLUSTRATIONS v i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v i i INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I . The H i r e l i n g S h e p h e r d : B a c k g r o u n d and I c o n o g r a p h y . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 CHAPTER I I . R u r a l Imagery and A g r i c u l t u r a l Economy. . 3 0 CHAPTER I I I . A C l a s h o f A e s t h e t i c s 56 CHAPTER IV. P r e - R a p h a e l i t e R e a l i s m and t h e I d e o l o g y o f S c i e n c e . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 ILLUSTRATIONS 98 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 APPENDIX. S u r v e y o f P e r i o d i c a l s R e v i e w i n g The H i r e l i n g S h e p h e r d . . . . . . . . . 118 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. William Holman Hunt, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, 1851. . 98 2. John Everett M i l l a i s , Mariana, 1851 99 3. William Holman Hunt, Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus, 1851 100 4. Charles C o l l i n s , Convent Thoughts, 1851 101 5. John Everett M i l l a i s , Ophelia, 1851-2 103 6. John Everett M i l l a i s , A Huguenot, 1851-2. . . . 104 7. II Guercino (Giovanni Francesco B a r b i e r i ) , I Pastori d'Arcadia, n. d 105 ~ 8. Engraving from Henry Jutsam, A Mountain Spring, 1852 106 9. William Mulready, The Sonnet, 1839 107 10. Engraving from Thomas F. Marshall, The Shepherd's Daughter, 1852 108 11. William F. Witherington, The Harvest F i e l d , 1848. . 109 12. Engraving from Henry Jutsam, The Harvest F i e l d , 1849 110 13. Charles Eastlake, Ippolita T o r e l l i , R. A. 1851. . I l l 14. John Brett, The Stonebreaker, 1857-8 112 v i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT A thesis represents a communal e f f o r t , even though i t bears the name of o n l y one i n d i v i d u a l . I would l i k e to thank my f r i e n d s i n Vancouver and B e l l i n g h a m whose s u p p o r t and encouragement was u n f l a g g i n g throughout t h i s p r o j e c t . In addition, David Solkin f a c i l i t a t e d the progress of thi s thesis at every s t a g e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 f r o m o f f e r i n g u s e f u l ideas at the outset to s c r u t i n i z i n g the f i n a l product with a t r a i n e d e d i t o r i a l eye. Serge G u i l b a u t not o n l y s u p p l i e d h e l p f u l suggestions f o r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r e f f o r t , but al s o taught me how to look at art and art hi s t o r y with a new c r i t i c a l awareness. F i n a l l y , I wish to thank George Kriz for h i s technical advice i n preparing the manuscript, as w e l l as for his much needed love and support. v i i INTRODUCTION In 1852 W i l l i a m Holman Hunt e x h i b i t e d a p a i n t i n g with a seemingly innocuous theme at London's Royal Academy. E n t i t l e d The H i r e l i n g Shepherd (Fig. 1, p. 98) i t depicted a shepherd and shepherdess reposing i n a summer landscape. This type of r u s t i c subject was commonplace at t h i s time, appearing r e p e a t e d l y i n p a i n t i n g s , p o p u l a r p r i n t s , and i l l u s t r a t i o n s f o r books, magazines, and sheet music. Hunt l a t e r wrote of The Hire 1ing Shepherd that although he intended i t to have moral significance, ...my f i r s t o b j e c t as an a r t i s t was to paint, not dresden china bergers, but a r e a l Shepherd, and a re a l Shepherdess, and a landscape i n f u l l s u n l i g h t , with a l l the c o l o u r of luscious summer...^ -The a r t i s t ' s desire to paint a scene with primary attention given to the t r u t h f u l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of f i g u r e s and t h e i r n a t u r a l setting seems as unremarkable and uncontroversial as the subject s e l e c t e d . The reviews which the p a i n t i n g r e c e i v e d upon i t s exhibition c l e a r l y indicate, however, that there existed strong and divergent opinions about the a r t i s t i c consequences of Hunt's attachment to the * truth.' Most of the reviews which appeared i n the London press were openly h o s t i l e . For example, the Athenaeum reported that: \"Mr. Hunt, who has * an oath i n heaven' to t e l l *the whole t r u t h and nothing but the t r u t h , ' c a r r i e s a n t i - e c l e c t i c i s m to the absurd. L i k e Swift he r e v e l s i n the r e p u l s i v e . N o t a l l the reviews were unfavorable, however. The Spectator c r i t i c , William Michael 1 R o s s e t t i , who was Hunt's f r i e n d and f e l l o w Pre-Raphaelite, saw the s i t u a t i o n d i f f e r e n t l y . Writing of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd and the other Pre-Raphaelite works i n the exhibit, he declared: . . . i t i s s u p e r f l u o u s to say that they [the p a i n t i n g s ] are produced on the \"Pre-Raphaelite\" p r i n c i p l e of f a i t h f u l unswerving truth--a truth which recognizes no degree of less and more\u00E2\u0080\u0094were i t not that we conceive t h i s f a c t to be the key to t h e i r altogether peculiar impressiveness. Why d i d one viewer f i n d Hunt's p a i n t i n g \" r e p u l s i v e \" and another p e c u l i a r l y impressive? This i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i l l examine t h i s question, which can be restated i n more general and fundamental terms: Why was t h i s r u r a l landscape with i t s d i s t i n c t i v e form of Pre-Raphaelite r e a l i s m produced i n England at mid-century and what d i d i t mean to contemporary viewers? The answers to these q u e s t i o n s w i l l not o n l y promote an u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h i s p a r t i c u l a r work, but w i l l a l s o h e l p to e x p l a i n the f u n c t i o n of r u r a l landscape painting at t h i s time as w e l l as the phenomenon of Pre-Raphaelite realism, which by the l a t e 1850's was to become the dominant mode of landscape painting i n England. I t i s reasonable to ask why more e f f o r t should be expended i n studying t h i s painting. Beyond the cursory references to The Hire l i n g Shepherd i n e x h i b i t i o n c a t a l o g s and surveys of Pre-Raphaelite painting, two extended analyses of the work appeared i n the e a r l y 1970's--an a r t i c l e of 1972 by John Duncan Macmillan and a c h a p t e r of a d o c t o r a l t h e s i s by L i n d s a y E r r i n g t o n , completed the following year.^ A b r i e f review of t h i s research, however, reveals major methodological weaknesses which lead to an inadequate and even m i s l e a d i n g e v a l u a t i o n of the painting's 2 meaning and importance. Macmillan's a r t i c l e , \"Holman Hunt's H i r e l i n g Shepherd; Some Reflections on a V i c t o r i a n Pastoral,\" i s an iconographical study of the work's p a s t o r a l imagery. The author connects Hunt's own statements about the p a i n t i n g to p o s s i b l e thematic sources. These include verses from St. John (which refer to a ^hireling') and Milton's Ly c i d a s , which uses b i b l i c a l a l l e g o r y and p a s t o r a l imagery i n order to comment on contemporary church leadership. A r t i s t i c precedents for the composition are found i n the f a n c y p a s t o r a l s of Boucher, which, M a c m i l l a n argues, represented the antithesis of the morally e l e v a t i n g art to which Hunt was committed.5 Hunt's intent, according to t h i s analysis, was to produce an a n t i - p a s t o r a l which c r i t i q u e d the a c t i o n s of the contemporary c l e r g y and exposed the f a l s e n e s s of e a r l i e r pastoral painting by demonstrating the v i r t u e of depicting the v i s u a l t r u t h . 6 This analysis of iconography and thematic sources i s coherent, thorough, and convincing, and thus w i l l be of great value to t h i s present investigation. The problems with Macmillan's a r t i c l e derive from the way i n which he sets out to answer h i s o r i g i n a l question: \"What exactly does the picture mean.\"'' For him, t h i s question translates into: what meaning d i d Hunt intend h i s p a i n t i n g to convey? Within t h i s narrowly d e f i n e d scope the author f a i l s to consider f u l l y the contemporary r e l i g i o u s controversies which he claims inspired Hunt's symbolic attack on the clergy. Only one paragraph refers to c u r r e n t e c c l e s i a s t i c a l d isputes, without expanding on t h e i r nature and importance.^ Even more se r i o u s i s Macmillan's 3 assumption that the meaning of The H i r e 1ing Shepherd can be e l u c i d a t e d s o l e l y by studying the symbolic content of i t s imagery. No a t t e n t i o n i s d i r e c t e d to the manner i n which the work was executed\u00E2\u0080\u0094the hard-edge d e t a i l i n g , lack of chiaroscuro, and use of b r i g h t c o l o r s , which were the h a l l m a r k of Pre-Raphaelite realism. Hunt's decision to paint i n t h i s manner was c o n d i t i o n e d by a i n c r e a s i n g demand fo r h i g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d images\u00E2\u0080\u0094a fact which Macmillan t o t a l l y neglects. F i n a l l y , the most fundamental problem with Macmillan's approach i n v o l v e s h i s assumption that The H i r e l i n g Shepherd has a s i n g l e meaning, def i n e d by i t s producer, which i s f i x e d and t i m e l e s s . I t i s obvious from the c r i t i c a l excerpts quoted p r e v i o u s l y (see pp. 1 and 2) that the p a i n t i n g was seen q u i t e d i f f e r e n t l y by Hunt and v a r i o u s s e c t o r s of the contemporary London public, yet Macmillan simply termed the work \"a success. This statement might l e a d to the misapprehension t h a t most viewers l i k e d the p i c t u r e and c o r r e c t l y i n t e r p r e t e d i t s moral message. A thorough a n a l y s i s of the c r i t i c a l response i s c r u c i a l : determining how d i f f e r e n t types of viewers responded to the painting and the reasons for t h e i r response aids enormously i n the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of the major contemporary is s u e s and c o n f l i c t s which the work a c t i v a t e d . Only by examining The H i r e l i n g Shephe_rd i n the c o n t e x t of t h e s e i s s u e s can i t s h i s t o r i c a l s i gnificance be discovered. Errington's exhaustive a n a l y s i s of the iconography of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd agrees fundamentally with Macmillan's. It a l s o shares the same basic weakness\u00E2\u0080\u0094the f a i l u r e to examine any aspect of the work beyond i t s thematic sources and intended symbolic meaning. Both observe that Hunt's use of a V i r g i l i a n pastoral to c r i t i q u e a n e g l e c t f u l clergy resembles Milton's Lycidas i n form and purpose. 1 0 Unlike Macmillan, Errington explores the status of contemporary r e l i g i o u s c o n t r o v e r s i e s to determine p o s s i b l e motives f o r Hunt's d e s i r e to c r i t i q u e p a s t o r a l l e a d e r s h i p . 1 1 Since Hunt's p u b l i c d i d not appear concerned with h i s symbolic references to s e c t a r i a n d i v i s i o n among a n e g l e c t f u l clergy, Errington dismisses the c r i t i c a l response to the painting with a s i n g l e sentence: \"The p r i c e f o r Hunt's o r i g i n a l i t y was bound to be p u b l i c i n c o m p r e h e n s i o n . P o s s i b l y . However, there a l s o seems to be an equal u n w i l l i n g n e s s on the part of modern s c h o l a r s to t r y to comprehend what v a r i o u s groups w i t h i n t h i s p u b l i c were saying about t h e i r a r t i s t i c needs and expectations. Neither Macmillan nor Errington attempts to situate The H i r e l i n g Shepherd w i t h i n i t s proper p i c t o r i a l t r a d i t i o n . Set i n t o t h i s context i t becomes c l e a r that the painting negated the dominant urban image of the countryside as a place of harmony, peace, and v i r t u e . In the process of a n a l y z i n g the discomfort r a i s e d by Hunt's unconventional r u r a l landscape much can be d i s c o v e r e d about the function of r u r a l imagery i n England at t h i s time. The c r i t i c i s m s r a i s e d i n the preceding d i s c u s s i o n should indicate the d i r e c t i o n t h i s present i n v e s t i g a t i o n w i l l take. It i s e s s e n t i a l to examine The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd's iconography, formal c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and c r i t i c a l r e c e p t i o n i n concert with the contemporary issues which the work activated. Attention w i l l f i r s t be focused on the painting's function as a r u r a l landscape. T h i s i n v o l v e s c o n s i d e r a t i o n not o n l y of an a r t i s t i c t r a d i t i o n , 5 but the f o r c e s that helped shape that t r a d i t i o n - - t h e a c t u a l economic and s o c i a l conditions present i n r u r a l England at mid-century. The other major issue to be addressed arises from the manner i n which The H i r e 1ing Shepherd was painted. Hunt's h i g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d and u n i d e a l i z e d treatment of h i s f i g u r e s and t h e i r landscape setting was seen by admirers and h o s t i l e c r i t i c s as a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of P r e - R a p h a e l i t e r e a l i s m . S c i e n t i f i c terminology and analogies were often invoked i n discussions of Pre-Raphaelite realism, which was praised by l i b e r a l advocates as modern and progressive, and condemned by conservative c r i t i c s as mechanistic and u n p o e t i c a l . The most ardent admirers of The Hire 1ing Shepherd tended to be l i b e r a l i n t e l l e c t u a l s who understood the power of invoicing s c i e n t i f i c p r i n c i p l e s and methodology i n the formation and l e g i t i m i z a t i o n of s o c i a l p o l i c y . Therefore, a thorough analysis of Hunt's r u r a l landscape requires an i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o the use of science as an i d e o l o g i c a l instrument i n the years preceding the Darwinian Revolution. An a n a l y s i s o f the f a c t o r s which impinged upon the production and reception of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd indicates that, far from being s o l e l y the p r i v a t e v i s i o n of an i n d i v i d u a l a r t i s t , Hunt's r u r a l landscape was a response to a demand for a new kind of p a i n t i n g on the p a r t of a v o c a l and i n f l u e n t i a l group of s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d i n t e l l e c t u a l s . This new art embodied a world view i n which moral v a l u e s and s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e s are intimately connected to a mechanistic universe whose processes are p a r t i c u l a r i z e d and s c i e n t i f i c a l l y v e r i f i a b l e . Hunt's commitment to t h i s form of a r t i s t i c ''truth' led him to produce a 6 work whose s c i e n t i f i c accuracy and moral r i g o r c h a l l e n g e d the fundamental assumptions and conventions upon which the r u r a l landscape t r a d i t i o n was b u i l t . 7 NOTES 1. W i l l i a m Holman Hunt to J. E. Pythian, January 21, 1897, i n John Duncan Macmillan, \"Holman Hunt's H i r e l i n g Shepherd: Some Reflections on a V i c t o r i a n Pastoral,\" A r t Bui l e t i n , 54 (1972), p. 188. 2. \"Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, p. 581. 3. [ W i l l i a m M i c h a e l R o s s e t t i ] , \"The R o y a l Academy Exhibition,\" Spectator, May 15, 1852, p. 472. 4. Lindsay E r r i n g t o n , \" S o c i a l and R e l i g i o u s Themes i n English Art 1840-1860\" (Ph. D. d i s s e r t a t i o n , University of London, 1973), pp. 293-328. Macmillan's a r t i c l e i s c i t e d above i n n. 1. 5. Macmillan, p. 191. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid., p. 187. 8. Ibid., p. 190. 9. Ibid., p. 187. The dangers of dwelling e x c l u s i v e l y on thematic sources and iconography are d r a m a t i c a l l y revealed when the c r i t i c a l response to t h i s painting i s considered. R e c a l l i n g Macmillan's emphasis on the c l o s e connection between The H i r e l i n g Shepherd and Milton's Lycidas, i t i s s t a r t l i n g to f i n d t h a t David Masson, perhaps the most knowledgeable Milton scholar i n England at that time, f a i l e d to make any r e f e r e n c e t o M i l t o n i n h i s e x t e n s i v e and v e r y p o s i t i v e contemporary review of Hunt's r u r a l landscape. 10. Errington, p. 279. 11. Ibid., p. 307ff. 12. Ibid., p. 328. 8 CHAPTER I The H i r e l i n g Shepherd; Background and Iconography Controversy surrounded the e x h i b i t i o n of P r e-Raphaelite paintings at the Royal Academy i n 1851. It w i l l be worthwhile to review b r i e f l y the p u b l i c debate occasioned by t h i s e x h i b i t i o n before a n a l y z i n g the production and r e c e p t i o n of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd i n 1852. This look back w i l l be h e l p f u l i n determining the extent to which Pre-Raphaelite p a i n t e r s i n 1852, n o t a b l y Hunt, J. E. M i l l a i s , and Charles C o l l i n s , modified t h e i r art as a r e s u l t of the n e g a t i v e c r i t i c i s m they had r e c e i v e d i n 1851. 1 S i m i l a r l y , the r e a c t i o n of the p u b l i c and the c r i t i c s to Pre-Raphaelite painting i n 1852 was to some degree pre-conditioned by the paintings they had seen i n 1851 and by the discussions these works had generated i n the press. F i n a l l y , the consequences of John Ruskin's i n t e r v e n t i o n on b e h a l f of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood i n the s p r i n g and summer of 1851 must be analyzed, for i t has often been misunderstood. For example, James Sambrook claims that \"attacks on Pre-Raphaelite painting continued i n the f o l l o w i n g year [1851] u n t i l Ruskin came to the Brotherhood's rescue with h i s l e t t e r s to the Times i n May and h i s pamphlet, Pre-Raphaelitism (1851).\"2 A c l o s e r examination of the impact of Ruskin's support w i l l reveal to what extent t h i s intervention can simply be termed a \"rescue\" which staved o f f further attacks. The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1851 included John Everett M i l l a i s ' The Return of the Dove to the Ark, The Woodman' s Daughter, and Mariana (Fig. 2, p. 99), Hunt's Va1entine Rescuing 9 S y l v i a from Proteus (Fig. 3, p. 100), and C h a r l e s C o l l i n s ' Convent Thoughts (Fig. 4, p. 101).3 The Art Journal attacked a l l of these works, f a u l t i n g them f o r t h e i r i l l - p r o p o r t i o n e d and ungraceful f i g u r e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 e s p e c i a l l y C o l l i n s ' nun i n Convent Thoughts and M i l l a i s ' figure of Mariana.'* The reviewer was also c r i t i c a l of the two-dimensionality of Valentine Rescuing S y l v i a . 5 In t h i s work Hunt rejected the use of atmospheric perspective; instead, he placed his figures against a h i g h l y d e t a i l e d background with a high h o r i z o n which r i s e s r a p i d l y from the foreground. The r e s u l t i n g compression f l a t t e n s the background i n t o a screen against which the foreground drama i s set. The p l a i n b l a c k background of M i l l a i s ' Return of the Dove was a l s o noted by the c r i t i c , who complained t h a t the whole composition \" a f f e c t s the medieval manner.\"6 The Athenaeum review b r i e f l y condemned these p a i n t i n g s as a group, s i n g l i n g out o n l y Convent Thoughts f o r s p e c i f i c mention. C o l l i n s was c r i t i c i z e d f o r h i s f a i l u r e to i d e a l i z e the figure of the nun and for his misplaced concern with minute rendering of a n c i l l a r y d e t a i l s . ' The strongest censure came from the Times. L i k e h i s c o l l e a g u e at the Athenaeum, the Times c r i t i c treated the paintings of Hunt, C o l l i n s and M i l l a i s as an undifferentiated group--a t a c t i c which could be construed as an attack on the a b i l i t y of these p a i n t i n g s to stand as independent works of art, deserving of i n d i v i d u a l attention. The reviewer c r i t i c i z e d the young a r t i s t s ' contempt for perspective, t h e i r unconventional use of l i g h t and shade, and t h e i r devotion p to a minute rendering of d e t a i l . In a review p u b l i s h e d a few days l a t e r the c r i t i c continued the attack, condemning the \"crude color of remote antiquity,\" the treatment of draperies (\"snapped 10 rather than folded\"), and the faces of the figures, \"bloated into apoplexy\" with expressions \"forced into caricature.\" The review concluded with the assertion that these \"monkish f o l l i e s \" had no Q place i n a decent c o l l e c t i o n of English art. This c r i t i c i s m so alarmed the Pre-Raphaelites that M i l l a i s asked the poet Coventry Patmore to seek John Ruskin's a i d i n defending the young a r t i s t s . Ruskin responded by w r i t i n g two l e t t e r s , p u b l i s h e d i n the Times on May 13 and May 30, and a pamphlet, Pre-Raphael i t i s m , i ssued August 13. In the f i r s t l e t t e r Ruskin r e f u t e d the charge of medievalism by e x p l a i n i n g t h a t the new a r t sought a r e t u r n to a r c h a i c honesty of expres-sion, but d i d not r e j e c t modern advances i n technique. He then defended the accuracy of the perspective and handling of drapery. Further countering charges that the a r t i s t s were u n t r u t h f u l i n t h e i r rendering of forms, Ruskin praised C o l l i n s ' c a r e f u l t r e a t -ment of the nun's flower i n Convent Thoughts, comparing i t to a botanical study. 1 0 But t h i s f i r s t l e t t e r a l so contained words of c a u t i o n f o r the a r t i s t s regarding t h e i r p o s s i b l e \"Romanist and T r a c t a r i a n tendencies.\" Ruskin found C o l l i n s ' nun and the \"idolatrous\" t o i l e t table i n Mariana elements which p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t u r b e d him i n t h i s r e g a r d . 1 1 In h i s second l e t t e r Ruskin reit e r a t e d h i s concern that the Pre-Raphaelites avoid works with these s o r t s of r e l i g i o u s connotations. While p r a i s i n g the a r t i s t s generally, Ruskin included many s p e c i f i c c r i t i c i s m s of the p a i n t i n g s . The f i g u r e of S y l v i a i n Hunt's piec e and one of the g i r l s i n M i l l a i s ' Return of the Dove were e s p e c i a l l y faulted for t h e i r commonness of f e a t u r e . 1 2 11 Ruskin's pamphlet, Pre-Raphael i t i s m , again r e s t a t e d the basic concerns of h i s l e t t e r , t h i s time emphasizing the need for a s c i e n t i f i c rendering of nature: I f they [the Pre-Raphaelites] adhere to th e i r p r i n c i p l e s and p a i n t nature as i t i s around them, with the h e l p of modern s c i e n c e and w i t h the e a r n e s t n e s s of the men of the t h i r t e e n t h and fourteenth century, they w i l l , as I s a i d , found a new and n o b l e s c h o o l i n E n g l a n d . I f t h e i r sympathies w i t h the e a r l y a r t i s t s l e a d them i n t o mediaevalism or Romanism, they w i l l of course come to nothing. Although the pamphlet then turned away from a discussion of these a r t i s t s , d e v o l v i n g r a p i d l y i n t o a paean to the a r t of J. M. W. Turner, i t s preface contained one other very important passage, quoted by f r i e n d s and a d v e r s a r i e s a l i k e i n d i s c u s s i o n s of Pre-R a p h a e l i t e p a i n t i n g throughout the 1850's. Ruskin began h i s preface by s t a t i n g that i n Modern P a i n t e r s I he had t o l d young English a r t i s t s that They should go to nature i n a l l s i n g l e n e s s of heart, and walk with her l a b o r i o u s l y and t r u s t i n g l y , having no other thought but how best to penetrate her meanings; r e j e c t i n g nothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing. The Pre-Raphaelites, he asserted, have carried out t h i s advice to the letter.\"* - 5 These words could be construed to imply that Hunt, M i l l a i s and C o l l i n s were Ruskin's d i s c i p l e s , eager to obey h i s aesthetic theories, but no evidence exists to suggest that any of the a r t i s t s had read Modern P a i n t e r s I_ at t h i s t i m e . ^ Despite t h i s f a c t , Ruskin's preface ensured that Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m and Ruskinian aesthetics would be forever linked and confused i n the 12 minds of contemporary c r i t i c s and the public. Ruskin's remarks on Pre-Raphaelitism attracted considerable n o t i c e i n the press throughout the f o l l o w i n g two years. David Masson, writing i n the l i b e r a l , non-conformist B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, noted that c r i t i c a l reaction to Pre-Raphaelite painting a l t e r e d dramatically from condemnation to praise between 1851 and 1852. He a t t r i b u t e d t h i s change to \"a triumph of the Pre-Raphaelite p r i n c i p l e \" and credited Ruskin's intervention for the speed of t h i s s u c c e s s . ^ As p r e v i o u s l y noted, other w r i t e r s since Masson have rather s i m p l i s t i c a l l y attributed the c r i t i c a l success of P r e - R a p h a e l i t i s m to Ruskin, who i s represented as having had unchallengeable authority i n a r t i s t i c matters at the time. An a n a l y s i s of the response to Ruskin's w r i t i n g s on Pre-Raphaelitism demonstrates that the issue of h i s authority was far more complex. In 1851 Ruskin was o n l y t h i r t y - t w o , yet he had already published two volumes of Modern Painters, one volume of The Stones of Venice, and The Seven Lamps of Architecture, books which c h a l l e n g e d many a c c e p t e d a r t i s t i c c o n v e n t i o n s and p r i n c i p l e s . Many E n g l i s h a r t c r i t i c s h e l d a c o n s e r v a t i v e p o s i t i o n defending the i d e a l s of art a r t i c u l a t e d o r i g i n a l l y by S i r Joshua Reynolds, which were s t i l l promoted i n the Royal Academy. I t i s not s u r p r i s i n g that these men saw Ruskin not as an unimpeachable authority but as a formidable adversary. This a t t i t u d e i s r e v e a l e d i n John B a l l a n t y n e ' s e s s a y on Pre-Raphaelitism which appeared i n the Art Journal i n J u l y 1851: 13 To a t t e m p t t o c r i t i c i z e such works seems t r i f l i n g w i t h time, b u t when we see t h i s j u n t o h e l d up t o n o t i c e and f a v o u r a b l e o b s e r v a t i o n by such men as the Under-graduate of O x f o r d [ R u s k i n ] , i t becomes our d u t y t o e n t e r i n t o t h e m e l l e . 1 8 T h e s e s e n t i m e n t s were e c h o e d by E. V. R i p p i n g i l l e i n Bent l e y ' s M i s c e l l a n y , Solomon H a r t i n t h e Athenaeum, and John E a g l e s i n Blackwood's. 1^ Even the r e v i e w e r f o r Fraser's, who was sympathetic t o the P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s , c r i t i c i z e d Ruskin f o r t u r n i n g h i s pamphlet i n t o an e x p o s i t i o n on T u r n e r . ^ Those c r i t i c a l of t h e new a r t and Ruskin's w r i t i n g s about i t a l l t o o k t h e same l i n e o f attack. They r e t r a c e d the progress of a r t from m e d i e v a l times t o i t s p e r f e c t i o n i n the a r t of Raphael and M i c h e l a n g e l o i n order t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t R e n a i s s a n c e c o n v e n t i o n s o f c o m p o s i t i o n , p e r s p e c t i v e , and c h i a r o s c u r o were e s s e n t i a l t o good p i c t u r e making. They m a i n t a i n e d t h a t a r e j e c t i o n o f t h e s e i d e a l s was a r e t r e a t i n t o a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s m e d i e v a l i s m r e d o l e n t of bad t a s t e . S i m i l a r l y Ruskin's a d v i c e t o go t o n a t u r e , \" r e j e c t i n g n o t h i n g , s e l e c t i n g n o t h i n g , \" was r e s o u n d i n g l y condemned. \" R e j e c t i o n and s e l e c t i o n a r e not, i n d e e d , t h e p r e r o g a t i v e , m e r e l y , b u t t h e d u t y o f t h e a r t i s t , \" an anonymous r e v i e w e r o f Ruskin's pamphlet d e c l a r e d . x Even W i l l i a m M i c h a e l R o s s e t t i , a member o f t h e P. R. B., c r i t i c i z e d R u s k i n on t h i s p o i n t . ^2 Notwithstanding t h i s o b j e c t i o n , R o s s e t t i p r a i s e d Ruskin f o r h i s d e f e n s e o f t h e new a r t , as d i d o t h e r w r i t e r s such as Masson and the c r i t i c f o r the I r i s h Q u a r t e r l y Review.^ 3 C l e a r l y Ruskin d i d not m a g i c a l l y t u r n the t i d e of o p i n i o n i n f a v o r o f t h e P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s ; more a c c u r a t e l y , he f o r c e d opponents of the Brotherhood t o take the new a r t s e r i o u s l y . His support a l s o may have encouraged w r i t e r s sympathetic to the a r t i s t s , such as Masson, and the c r i t i c s at Fraser's and the I r i s h Quarterly Review, to speak out. As previously noted, the other major e f f e c t of Ruskin's i n t e r v e n t i o n was to broaden and confuse the i s s u e of Pre-Raphaelitism, whose p r i n c i p l e s a f t e r 1851 became i n e x t r i c a b l y connected with his aesthetics. Those of the approximately 200,000 middle- and upper-class v i s i t o r s to the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1852 who had seen the e x h i b i t of 1851 and had kept abreast of c u r r e n t arguments surrounding Pre-Raphaelitism might have expected to encounter works by Hunt and M i l l a i s which were s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y medieval, both i n theme and f o r m a l c o n s t r u c t i o n . ^ In f a c t , the d i s c o u r s e s surrounding the three works e x h i b i t e d by Hunt and M i l l a i s t h i s year hardly raised the issue of medievalism at a l l . None of these p a i n t i n g s d e a l t with subjects which c o u l d be construed as Romanist or T r a c t a r i a n : Hunt produced a r u r a l landscape; M i l l a i s produced one work, Ophe1ia (Fig. 5, p. 103), with a Shakespearean subject, and another, A Huguenot (Fig. 6, p. 104), which was unabashedly pro-Protestant. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to gauge how much impact the f u r o r over Romanist themes and Ruskin's subsequent warnings to avoid them had on Hunt, since his Valentine Rescuing Sy 1 v i a had a l s o had a subject u n l i k e l y to f u e l suspicions of Tractarianism. On the other hand, M i l l a i s ' Return of the Dove and Mariana both had been attacked on r e l i g i o u s grounds. M i l l a i s was p a r t i c u l a r l y disturbed when he discovered that i n November 1851 h i s brother was asked by a Dr. Hesse of Leyton C o l l e g e i f the a r t i s t were a C a t h o l i c . T his person took 15 The Return of the Dove to be a symbolic appeal for English people to r e t u r n to the C a t h o l i c Church. 2*' I t i s not u n l i k e l y , then, that A Huguenot was consciously intended to d i s p e l doubts about any suspected pro-Catholic biases. Likewise, much of the c r i t i c i s m that these a r t i s t s were a f f e c t i n g a m e d i e v a l manner i n t h e i r h a n d l i n g o f c o l o r , perspective, drapery, and chiaroscuro was also lacking. Although A Huguenot was f a u l t e d by the Times f o r a l a c k of atmospheric p e r s p e c t i v e and a c e r t a i n awkwardness i n the man's pose, these were seen as technical errors, and not medievalizing features. Since most of the c r i t i c i s m s of 1851 were neutralized, i t i s not surprising that M i l l a i s ' two paintings enjoyed a f a i r measure of success both with the c r i t i c s and the viewing p u b l i c ( t h i s success w i l l be analyzed more thoroughly i n Chapter III). What i s s u r p r i s i n g i s t h a t Hunt's H i r e l i n g Shepherd was more vigorously attacked by c r i t i c s i n the c e n t r i s t and conservative press than was h i s Va1entine of the preceding year. Before a n a l y z i n g t h i s c r i t i c i s m , i t w i l l be u s e f u l f i r s t to gain some understanding of how The H i r e l i n g Shepherd was c o n s t r u c t e d and what meanings can be attached to i t s elaborate iconography. The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd was Hunt's f i r s t e f f o r t to impart a moral message to h i s p u b l i c v i a a contemporary subject i n which symbols are included s o l e l y i n the guise of n a t u r a l i s t i c d e t a i l s . I t i s l i k e l y t hat t h i s attempt at d i d a c t i c p a i n t i n g through a combination of r e a l i s m and symbolism was i n s p i r e d by Hunt's encounter with Modern Painters IT..2\u00C2\u00AE The a r t i s t ' s commitment to his own version of Pre-Raphaelite realism i s apparent both i n his f i g u r e s and the l a n d s c a p e t h e y i n h a b i t . Dominating the 16 foreground are a shepherd and shepherdess whose sturdy bodies combine to form a s t a b l e t r i a n g l e . The shepherd i s showing h i s companion a death's head moth he has found, concerned that i t i s an e v i l omen. She, ostensibly a f r a i d of the creature, shrinks back against the young man's shoulder. Hunt s e l e c t e d l o c a l country people as the models f o r h i s shepherd and shepherdess, o b s e r v i n g and r e c o r d i n g t h e i r ample forms with a microscopic accuracy worthy of a n a t u r a l i s t . Thus the viewer i s presented with every d e t a i l of the couple's coarsely-waved hair, blotchy, reddened skin, and muscular limbs. This minute d e t a i l i n g extends t o the t r e a t m e n t of t h e i r garments and a c c e s s o r i e s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o t e e s p e c i a l l y the c a r e f u l l y rendered s t i t c h i n g on the g i r l ' s smock. The c r i t i c s ' reactions to Hunt's figures w i l l be examined l a t e r ; f o r now i t i s noteworthy that Ruskin never commented on t h i s p a i n t i n g , although he p u b l i c l y p r a i s e d Hunt's Va1entine, as he would the l a t e r The L i g h t of the WorId (1853) and The Awakening Conscience (1854). 3 0 This s i l e n c e can perhaps be ex p l a i n e d by Hunt's commitment to a Ruskinian \" t r u t h t o Nature\" that even Ruskin himself found too rigorous to be acceptable. Surrounding the lovers i s a b r i g h t l y l i t summer landscape of great lushness. B o t a n i c a l l y accurate p l a n t s appear i n the foreground; t h i s c a r e f u l d e t a i l i n g i s continued throughout the middle ground, i n the treatment of the sheep and swallows behind the shepherd, and i n the t r e e s , grass, and wheat behind the shepherdess. The background opens into distant h i l l s and f i e l d s which are rendered with enough atmospheric p e r s p e c t i v e to g i v e the viewer a convincing sense of i l l u s i o n i s t i c space. It should 17 be r e c a l l e d that Hunt's V a l e n t i n e was c r i t i c i z e d f o r i t s f l a t , screen-like background. I f t h i s use of conventional perspective i n the l a t e r work was a concession to the c r i t i c s of 1851, i t was one of the very few Hunt chose to make. Throughout the scene academic conventions of l i g h t and shade are rejected i n favor of an i n t e r p l a y of vibrant colors which resonate across the surface of the canvas. This h a n d l i n g of c o l o r even extends to the use of c o l o r e d shadows (note those p l a y i n g over the sheep behind the young man), which was hi g h l y unusual i n painting at thi s time. Sickness, death, and immorality mar the beauty of t h i s summer landscape. Neglected by the shepherd and his companion, the sheep are straying into the wheat on the right, trampling i t and endangering themselves, f o r by eati n g the g r a i n they w i l l become distended with gas, sicken, and die . One sheep can be seen i n the wheat f i e l d , and two behind the shepherd are already bloated and i n pain. The s i c k l y lamb on the shepherdess' lap i s a l s o the v i c t i m of i n a t t e n t i o n , f o r i t i s e a t i n g green apples, which are poisonous to young sheep. Images of neglect extend to the landscape i t s e l f . The stream by the shepherdess' f e e t i s choked with weeds, r e s u l t i n g i n the formation of a swampy area which s t r e t c h e s through the center of the p i c t u r e behind the f i g u r e s . They are on unst a b l e ground, p h y s i c a l l y and m o r a l l y , and the animals are i n danger of sheep-rot a r i s i n g from the marsh. In his only major statement about the work, a l e t t e r written i n 1897, Hunt i d e n t i f i e d the shepherd with those \"muddle-headed pastors who instead of performing t h e i r services to t h e i r f l o c k \u00E2\u0080\u0094 18 which i s i n constant p e r i l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 d i s c u s s vain questions of no value to any human s o u l . \" ^ As p r e v i o u s l y noted (p. 1) Hunt continued t h a t he d i d not wish to f o r c e the moral, h i s f i r s t o b j e c t being to p a i n t \"not dresden china bergers, but a r e a l Shepherd and a r e a l Shepherdess, and a landscape i n f u l l sunlight, with a l l the colour of luscious summer...\" In the e a r l y 1970's John Duncan Macmillan and Lindsay E r r i n g t o n , working independently, attempted to e x p l a i n Hunt's elaborate iconography by analyzing the textual sources upon which he may have drawn. 3^ The shepherd's song from King Lear which accompanied the work's 1852 c a t a l o g entry a l l u d e s o n l y to the general subject of the work without throwing much l i g h t on i t s meaning. J Errington and Macmillan both determined that the most important sources for the painting are some verses from St. John and passages from Milton's pastoral poem, Lycidas. Hunt seems to have taken h i s t i t l e from the p a r a b l e i n John 10:7-18 which c o n t r a s t s Jesus, the good shepherd, with the h i r e l i n g who cares not f o r h i s f l o c k and abandons them to the wolves. M i l t o n ' s Lycidas, a pastoral which, according to the s u b t i t l e , \" f o r e t e l l s the r u i n of our corrupted c l e r g y , \" a l s o draws on t h i s passage from John f o r i t s theme of moral n e g l e c t . The poet's d i s s o l u t e young shepherd, p r e f e r r i n g \"to sport with A m a r y l l i s i n the shade,\" ( l i n e 68) abandons h i s sheep, who, l i k e Hunt's unfortunate beasts, become s w o l l e n with \"wind' and wander on marshy ground (see l i n e s 125-127). Thus both Hunt and M i l t o n have infused a V i r g i l i a n pastoral subject with Ch r i s t i a n meaning d e r i v i n g from the a l l e g o r y of l a i t y as f l o c k and p r i e s t as shepherd. 3 6 19 The s p e c i f i c target of t h i s moral attack, for both the poet and the painter, i s a n e g l e c t f u l clergy. Errington discusses i n some d e t a i l the major r e l i g i o u s controversies raging i n England during mid-century which would have claimed the attention of the c l e r g y , d i s t r a c t i n g them from s e r v i n g the s p i r i t u a l needs of t h e i r congregations. Major concerns were the widening schism between the E v a n g e l i c a l and High Church P a r t i e s ; the \"Papal Aggression Scare\" of 1850-51, brought about by the Pope's r e i n s t i t u t i o n of the C a t h o l i c h i e r a r c h y i n England; and the Russell government's response to t h i s action, the E c c l e s i a s t i c a l T i t l e s B i l l , which caused so such d i s s e n s i o n that i t almost brought down the government. F i n a l l y , there was the Gorham Case, which i n v o l v e d a d e c i s i o n not to i n s t i t u t e a clergyman (Mr. Gorham) to a l i v i n g because of h i s c o n t r o v e r s i a l views on baptism. The case i t s e l f became con t r o v e r s i a l and provoked more schisms i n an a l r e a d y d i v i d e d Church. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to determine which of these issues Hunt was addressing i n h i s d i d a c t i c p a i n t i n g of a \"muddle-headed pastor,\" concerned with sectarian v a n i t i e s , o z > or whether he had one s p e c i f i c r e l i g i o u s controversy i n mind at a l l . As Errington observes, One i s not r e a l l y faced with an e n t i r e l y disconnected set of events. A l l these were l i k e stones dropped i n t o a pool of s e c t a r i a n d i v i s i o n , extremism of p a r t i e s and d o c t r i n a l wrangling, such that an observer at the time might w e l l have experienced a sense of mounting anxiety at such a succession of wrong-headed p e r v e r s i t i e s . J. D. Macmillan suggests that Hunt's d i d a c t i c p a s t o r a l was intended to be more than a manifestation of the a r t i s t ' s anxiety 20 about these contemporary r e l i g i o u s controversies. Pursuing the connection between Lycidas and The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, Macmillan proposes that Hunt was i n s p i r e d not o n l y by the poem's p a s t o r a l imagery and moral theme, but a l s o by i t s l i t e r a r y f u n c t i o n . In t h i s work M i l t o n seems to be using the p a s t o r a l t r a d i t i o n to c r i t i c i z e i t s e l f . Transforming t h i s c r i t i q u e to a p i c t o r i a l l e v e l , Hunt, Macmillan maintains, may have been making a pointed attack on the a r i s t o c r a t i c pastorals of a r t i s t s such as Boucher, whose Pensent-t-ils a ce mouton? bears compositional s i m i l a r i t i e s to Hunt's picture.4 1 Such a c r i t i q u e does seem implied by Hunt's l a t e r remarks about h i s i n t e n t i o n to p a i n t r e a l people, not \"dresden china bergers,\" who f a l s e l y represent the r e a l i t y of r u r a l l i f e . Ruskin's idea of i d e n t i f y i n g moral with v i s u a l truth i s developed by Hunt beyond the general notion of t r u t h to nature. Assuming a p r i e s t - l i k e role, he uses v i s u a l r e a l i t y to t e a c h a p a r t i c u l a r moral t r u t h . In d e f i n i n g h i s r o l e as a r t i s t / p r i e s t Hunt i s a l s o passing judgment on other a r t i s t s who have s h i r k e d t h e i r moral duty to t e l l the t r u t h . M acmillan concludes that The h i r e l i n g then becomes the type of the bad a r t i s t , the a r t i s t with no sense of h i s pastoral duty, who l i k e Boucher, p r e f e r r e d the f a t a l i d l e n e s s of p a s t o r a l d a l l i a n c e . His negligence becomes ac t i v e immorality and thus the picture i s both an a l l e g o r y of the f a l s e a r t i s t and a demonstration of the true. 2 Exemplifying t h i s determination to present both v i s u a l and moral t r u t h i s Hunt's use of n a t u r a l i s t i c symbols such as the death's head moth (so-named f o r the s k u l l p a t t e r n on i t s back) 21 which the shepherd holds i n his hand. The insect represents both the cause and e f f e c t of s p i r i t u a l n e g l e c t . The shepherd's superstitious concern about the meaning of t h i s i l l omen provides the occasion for h i s romantic involvement with the shepherdess. At the same time, the moth becomes a p r o p h e t i c symbol of the f a t a l consequences of t h e i r d a l l i a n c e : the death of the sheep, d e s t r u c t i o n of the gr a i n , and the moral f a l l that w i l l r e s u l t from the sexual encounter which seems to be imminent. Symbols of death are not present i n Boucher's elegant f a n t a s i e s , but they are prominent i n another form of p a s t o r a l p a i n t i n g which dates from the seventeenth c e n t u r y . 4 3 The prototype f o r these works i s a p a s t o r a l by Giovanni Francesco G u e r c i n o ( F i g . 7, p. 105). I t shows two shepherds who unexpectedly have come upon a l a r g e human s k u l l ; t h i s \"death's head' i s l y i n g on a piece of crumbling masonry which i s i n c i s e d with the words, \"Et iri A r c a d i a Ego.\" This phrase, as Erwin Panofsky has demonstrated, i s p r o p e r l y t r a n s l a t e d as \"Even i n Arcady, there am I,\" the pronoun r e f e r r i n g to Death. Thus Guercino's painting conveys a warning i n the manner of a medieval memento mori; \"Death c a l l s to youth and bids i t to remember the end.\" 4 4 Later continental a r t i s t s such as Poussin softened t h i s message, transforming the motif into an elegiac reminiscence. In England, however, the harsher, m o r a l i z i n g i n t e n t of Guercino's composition was preserved as i t passed into the work of Reynolds and l a t e r English a r t i s t s working into the twentieth century. 4 5 For Hunt to have used a s k u l l to represent physical and s p i r i t u a l death would have v i o l e n t l y disturbed the naturalism of h i s r u r a l landscape. Replacing the s k u l l with a death's head moth, a 22 wholly convincing natural d e t a i l , conforms exactly to the Pre-Raph a e l i t e p r i n c i p l e s championed by Hunt and a r t i c u l a t e d by Ruskin: a r c h a i c honesty of expression ( i . e. the moral i m p l i e d by the reference to a memento mori) coupled with s c i e n t i f i c advances i n technique (the entomological l y accurate rendering of the moth). Hunt made i t c l e a r that he d i d not expect everyone who saw hi s painting to decipher a l l i t s complex meanings, but did intend that h i s p u b l i c would read some kind of moral l e s s o n from i t . In an undated manuscript, probably from the 1890's, Hunt noted that i n t i t l i n g h i s work he used the word \" h i r e l i n g \" w i t h i t s p e j o r a t i v e connotation, r a t h e r than \" j o l l y , \" which i s the adjective Shakespeare used to describe his shepherd i n the song from King Lear. Hunt stated that \"He [Shakespeare] could afford to have h i s meaning overlooked by i d l e readers. I could not and so I adopted the word which i n i t s proper suggestion represents a man neglecting h i s duty for s e l f i s h and i d l e fancies.\"^^ The s e l e c t i o n of a Shakespearean verse as a g l o s s f o r the p a i n t i n g no doubt d e r i v e d from Hunt's respect f o r the author's moral commitment to people of a l l classes. In hi s h i s t o r y of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood the a r t i s t wrote of Shakespeare's large-hearted sympathy with h i s fellows of every c l a s s ; he catered for the unlearned not less than for the profoundest philosopher...The charity of h i s example had led me to rate l i g h t l y that kind of art devised only for the uninitiated, and to suspect a l l p h i l o s o p h i e s which assume that the vulgar are to be l e f t for ever unredeemed.^7 P a i n t i n g s bearing e l e v a t e d themes had t r a d i t i o n a l l y possessed 23 m y t h o l o g i c a l or h i s t o r i c a l subject matter and were p r i m a r i l y d i r e c t e d to the p r i v i l e g e d c l a s s e s . Hunt's production of a morally s i g n i f i c a n t genre subject was undoubtedly an attempt to address (and a l s o redeem) the \"vul g a r \" masses i n a v i s u a l l a n -guage they could understand. Herbert Sussman suggests that t h i s moral e l e v a t i o n of genre painting was p o l i t i c a l l y motivated and expressed the a r t i s t ' s democratic i d e a l s which had been formed amidst the r e v o l u t i o n a r y u p h e a v a l s o f the l a t e 1840's. Evidence f o r t h i s contention e x i s t s both i n Hunt's w r i t i n g s and i n h i s art, but t h i s evidence must be c a r e f u l l y interpreted. In 1848 Hunt painted R i e n z i , d e p i c t i n g the fourteenth century I t a l i a n hero who l e d the common people i n an u p r i s i n g against t h e i r oppressors. ^ That the painting was a response to contemporary events i n Europe i s c l e a r from Hunt's discussion of i t i n his memoir: L i k e most young men, I was s t i r r e d by the s p i r i t of freedom of the passing r e v o l u t i o n a r y time. The appeal to Heaven against the tyranny e x e r c i s e d over the poor and h e l p l e s s seemed w e l l f i t t e d f o r p i c t o r i a l treatment. \"How long, 0 Lord!\" many bleeding souls were crying at that time. Notwithstanding t h i s r e v o l u t i o n a r y f e r v o r , Hunt remained sta u n c h l y committed to the i n t e r e s t s and va l u e s of the middle c l a s s . His account of the great C h a r t i s t p r o c e s s i o n of A p r i l 1847 focused almost e x c l u s i v e l y on the restrained and d i g n i f i e d behavior of the crowd, i t s l e a d e r s , and the p o l i c e . 5 1 For Hunt working c l a s s revolutions were acceptable when confined to the continent; the E n g l i s h poor were expected to conduct t h e i r protests with decorum. 24 The preceding discussions indicate the wide scope of Hunt's ambitions. He wished to communicate a moral message about s p i r i t u a l neglect to a broad p u b l i c v i a a r e a l i s t i c rendering of a modern r u r a l scene. To f a c i l i t a t e t h i s task, he chose a t i t l e with obvious b i b l i c a l overtones i n the hope that the moral might not be missed by casual viewers. At the same time, however, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd i s a work of such complexity that only the most e r u d i t e c o u l d p o s s i b l y have grasped s u b t l e connections with current t h e o l o g i c a l debates, the m o r a l i z i n g theme of Et i n Arcadia Ego, and the s a t i r i c Lycidas. Hunt apparently did intend that someone look beyond the obvious moral, for he declared that the deeper meaning of the work was to be reserved only for those who \"might be l e d to work i t out.\"-'2 How s u c c e s s f u l was the a r t i s t i n producing a work which had Nsomething f o r everyone'\u00E2\u0080\u0094 broad moral s i g n i f i c a n c e f o r the unschooled p u b l i c and deeper c r i t i c a l meaning for the more serious and educated patrons of the Academy? An examination of the reviews from the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1852 reveals that there was indeed a d i v e r s i t y of response, but t h i s c r i t i c a l reaction was not centered i n debates over fine points of thematic interpretation. Most c r i t i c s found the p a i n t i n g a e s t h e t i c a l l y repugnant r a t h e r than m o r a l l y i n s t r u c t i v e . To understand t h i s response The H i r e l i n g Shepherd must be examined both i n the context of the r u r a l landscape t r a d i t i o n and of r u r a l r e a l i t y , i . e. the s o c i a l and economic state of the English countryside at mid-century. 25 NOTES 1. Dante G a b r i e l R o s s e t t i d i d not e x h i b i t p u b l i c l y i n London from 1851 to 1857. 2. James Sambrook, ed., Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m (Chicago: Uni-v e r s i t y of Chicago Press, 1974), p. 4. 3. A thorough d i s c u s s i o n of P r e-Raphaelite p a i n t i n g s exhibited i n 1851 i s beyond the scope of t h i s inquiry. For a cogent analysis of these works i n the context of contemporary r e l i g i o u s c o n t r o v e r s i e s , see Lindsay Errington, \"Social and Religious Themes i n English Art 1840-60\" (Ph. D. d i s s e r t a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y of London, 1973). 4. \"The E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy,\" A r t J o u r n a l , 3 (1851), pp. 158, 159 and 161. 5. Ibid., p. 160. 6. Ibid. 7. \"The Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, June 7, 1851, p. 609. 8. \"Exhibition of the Royal Academy,\" Times, May 3, 1851, p. 8. 9. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy, Second Notice,\" Times, May 7, 1851, p. 8. 10. John Ruskin, Letter to the Times, May 13, 1851, i n John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin, 39 v o l s . , eds. E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn (London: George A l l e n , 1903-12), 12:332. 11. Ibid. 12. John Ruskin, L e t t e r t o the Times, May 30, 1851, i n Ruskin, Works, 12:325. 13. John Ruskin, Pre-Raphaelitism (1851), i n Ruskin, Works, 12:358 n. 14. Ibid., 12:339. 15. Ibid. 26 16. We only know from Hunt's biography that he read Modern P a i n t e r s II and was impressed by the d i s c u s s i o n of T i n t o r e t t o ' s use of t y p o l o g i c a l symbolism. For a f u l l e r d i s c u s s i o n o f t h i s i s s u e see George Landow, V i c t o r i a n Types, V i c t o r i a n Shadows (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980), p. 4. 17. [David Masson], Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m , The Germ, and the E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy, B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), p. 213. 18. J [ o h n ] B [ a l l a n t y n e ] , \"The P r e - R a f f a e l i t e s , \" A r t J o u r n a l , 3 (1851), p. 185. 19. Edward V. R i p p i n g i l l e , \"Obsoletism i n Art,\" Bent 1ey's M i s c e l l a n y , 31 (June 1852), pp. 598-609. [Solomon Hart], \"Review of Pre-Raphaelitism,\" Athenaeum, August 23, 1851, pp. 908-9. [John Eagles], \"Fine Arts and the Public Taste i n 1853,\" Blackwood's, 74 (July 1853), pp. 89-104. Hart and Eagles were o l d enemies of Ruskin whom he had antagonized i n a dispute over Turner. 20. \"Art and the Royal Academy,\" Fraser's, 46 (1852), p. 233. 21. \"Pre-Raphaelitism,\" Art Journal, 3 (1851), p. 285. 22. [William M. Rossetti], \"Pre-Raphaelitism,\" Spectator, 4 (October 1851), pp. 956-7. 23. Masson, pp. 208 and 213; \"Pre-Raphaelitism,\" I r i s h Quarterly Review, 1:4 (December 1851), p. 740ff. 24. See W i l l i a m Fredeman, Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m : A B i b 1 i o - c r i t i c a l Study (Cambridge: Harvard U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1965), pp. 10-11, f o r a f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n of the confusion of Pre-Raphaelitism and Ruskinism. 25. The figure of 200,000 v i s i t o r s i s an estimate based on average admission r e c e i p t s i n the 1850's [Sidney Hutchison, The History of the Royal Academy, 1768-1968 (London: Chapman and H a l l , 1968), p. 115]. Admission was one s h i l l i n g , which represented from 15-20% of a laborer's weekly wages. It i s u n l i k e l y , then, that the working classes frequented such exhibits. 26. John E. M i l l a i s to Mrs. Combe, November 22, 1851, i n John G. M i l l a i s , The L i f e and L e t t e r s of S i r John E v e r e t t M i l l a i s , 2 v o l s . (London: Methuen, 1899), 1:135. 27. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy, Second Notice,\" Times, May 14, 1852, p. 6. 27 28. See George Landow, William Holman Hunt and Typological Symbolism (New Haven: Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1979), pp. 2-5, for a f u l l discussion of Ruskin's influence on Hunt's e f f o r t s to create a modern, moral art. 29. \"My f o o l has found a death's head moth. And t h i s f i l l s h i s l i t t l e mind with forebodings of e v i l and he takes i t to an e q u a l l y sage c o n s e l l o r f o r her opinion,\" wrote Hunt i n 1897 ( l e t t e r to J. E. Pythian, quoted i n John Duncan Macmillan, \"Holman Hunt's Hire 1ing Shepherd: Some Reflections on a V i c t o r i a n Pastoral,\" A r t B u l l e t i n , 54 (1972), p. 188). 30. Ruskin's l e t t e r s to the Times i n defense of these l a t e r two works are reprinted i n his Works, 12:328-35. 31. Macmillan, p. 192. 32. Wil l i a m H. Hunt to J. E. Pythian, 1897, i n Macmillan, p. 188. 33. Ibid. 34. Errington's thesis i s c i t e d i n note 3. 35. \"Sleepeth or Waketh thou, j o l l y shepherd?/Thy sheep be i n the corn;/And f o r one b l a s t of thy m i n i k i n mouth,/ Thy sheep s h a l l take no harm,\" King Lear, Act I I I , Scene 6. 36. Errington, p. 279. 37. Ibid., p. 307ff. 38. Ibid. 39. Hunt i s quoted as saying that his picture was intended to be \"a rebuke to the s e c t a r i a n v a n i t i e s and v i t a l n e g l i g e n c i e s of the day.\" Robin I r o n s i d e and John Gere, Pr e - R a p h a e l i t e P a i n t e r s (London: Phaidon, 1948), p. 28. 40. E r r i n g t o n , p. 324. Hunt's i n t e r e s t i n these r e l i g i o u s questions i s c a r e f u l l y documented by E r r i n g t o n , who d i s c u s s e s the r e l i g i o u s t r a c t s and books the a r t i s t read w h i l e p a i n t i n g The Hire 1ing Shepherd. These i n c l u d e Ruskin's Notes on the C o n s t r u c t i o n of Sheepfolds, which laments the recent schisms i n the Church of England, and the the w r i t i n g s of Bishop Hooker, a sixteenth century theologian, who repeatedly spoke of the duty of pastors to attend the s p i r i t u a l needs of t h e i r f l o c k s (Errington, pp. 301-9). 41. Macmillan, p. 191. An engraving of Boucher's painting i s reproduced i n Macmillan, p. 188, f i g . 2. 28 42. Ibid., p. 195. 43. The d e f i n i t i v e study of t h i s theme of death i n Arcadia remains Erwin Panofsky, \"Et iri A r c a d i a Ego: Poussin and the E l e g i a c T r a d i t i o n , \" i n Meaning i n the V i s u a l Arts (New York: Doubleday, 1955H pp. 295-320. 44. Panofsky, p. 309. 45. Ibid., pp. 310-1. The notable exception i s Richard Wilson, whose elegiac Ego Fui i n Arcadia of 1755 was a product of his years of study i n Rome. 46. Hunt, quoted i n Macmillan, p. 188. 47. W i l l i a m Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m and the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, 2 v o l s . (New York: Macmillan, 19 0 5), 1~:148. Perhaps i t was t h i s b e l i e f i n Shakespeare's a b i l i t y to communicate with a l l classes that i m p e l l e d Hunt to base h i s p a i n t i n g s of the e a r l y 1850's on Shakespearean themes (Va1entine Rescuing Sy1 v i a , exh. 1851--The Two Gent1emen of Verona; The H i r e 1ing Shepherd, exh. 1852--King Lear; C1audio and I s a b e l l a , exh. 1853\u00E2\u0080\u0094Measure for Measure). 48. H e r b e r t Sussman, F a c t i n t o F i g u r e : ?_XE\u00C2\u00B0i\u00C2\u00B02X i l l C a r l y 1 e, Ruskin, and the P r e - R a p h a e l i t e Brotherhood (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1979), p. 90. 49. The painting's f u l l t i t l e i s R i e n z i Vowing to Obtain Jus t i c e for the Death of His Young Brother, S l a i n i n a Skirmish between the Colonna and O r s i n i Factions. For a thorough d i s c u s s i o n of i t s l i t e r a r y sources and contemporary meaning see Lindsay Errington, \"Social and R e l i g i o u s Themes i n E n g l i s h A r t 1840-1860\" (Ph. D. di s s e r t a t i o n , University of London, 1973), pp. 210-41. 50. Hunt, 1:114. 51. Ibid., 1:101-2. 52. Hunt, quoted i n Macmillan, p. 188. 29 CHAPTER II Rural Imagery and A g r i c u l t u r a l Economy At l e a s t e i g h t reviews of The Hire 1ing Shepherd were p u b l i s h e d i n the London press (f o r a review of the readership and p o l i t i c a l orientation of these p e r i o d i c a l s , see Appendix).-*- The c r i t i c s w r i t i n g i n the t h r e e most c o n s e r v a t i v e of t h e s e p u b l i c a t i o n s , the Times, Athenaeum, and A r t J o u r n a l , were vehement i n t h e i r d i s a p p r o v a l of the p a i n t i n g . The a t t a c k s c e n t e r e d on Hunt's h i g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d and u n i d e a l i z e d treatment of the f i g u r e s . For example, the reviewer f o r the Times c l e a r l y hated the figures, yet did manage f a i n t praise for the a r t i s t , p o s s i b l y f o r h i s h a n d l i n g of the landscape. A f t e r describing the painting as \"ludicrous\" and \"repulsive\" the c r i t i c observed that i t was held by not a few of the a r t i s t s and connoisseurs assembled yesterday at the Academy to denote powers which might one day reach a safer channel. Shepherds and shepherdesses with such f i e r c e complexions, such wiry hair, and such elephan-tine feet were not born i n Arcadia; but here again there are signs of p a t i e n t study and of m i s d i r e c t e d i m i t a t i v e s k i l l which may r i s e above the wretched conceit that now seems to enthra11 them.2 The adjectives connoting physical s t r e n g t h \u00E2\u0080\u0094 \" f i e r c e , \" \"wiry,\" and \" e l e p h a n t i n e \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i m m e d i a t e l y f o l l o w a statement about Hunt's di r e c t i n g h i s e f f o r t s toward \"a safer channel.\" The implication seems to be t h a t the d e p i c t i o n of these powerful r u s t i c s i s unsafe, possibly even threatening. Perhaps i t was thought that the best way to n e u t r a l i z e such a t h r e a t e n i n g image was to make fun of i t , hence the use of the b e l i t t l i n g \" l u d i c r o u s . \" The 30 review i n the 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News was much bri e f e r , but took exactly the same tack. C a l l i n g the painting \"absurd,\" the c r i t i c echoed the complaints i n the Times: \"Surely never were seen shepherd or shepherdess with such f i e r y red s k i n or such wiry h a i r . \" 3 A l t h o u g h the Times c r i t i c made r e f e r e n c e t o A r c a d i a , nineteenth century a r t i s t s seldom sought to reproduce the c l a s s i c a l p a s t o r a l landscapes of Claude and Poussin (fancy p a s t o r a l s a l a Boucher were rare or n o n - e x i s t e n t ) . 4 Had Hunt p l a c e d \" f i e r c e , \" \"wiry,\" \"elephantine\" r u s t i c s i n a c l a s s i c a l I t a l i a n pastoral setting they would have appeared merely s i l l y and posed no thr e a t . The r e a l problem f o r these viewers arose because the a r t i s t p l a c e d such people i n an E n g l i s h landscape and dressed them i n modern c l o t h i n g . T h is unhappy s t a t e of a f f a i r s was uppermost i n the mind of the Athenaeum c r i t i c : These r u s t i c s are of the coarsest b r e e d , \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i l l favoured, i l l fed, i l l washed. Not to dw e l l on cutaneous and other minutiae,\u00E2\u0080\u0094they are l i t e r a l t r a n s c r i p t s of stout, sunburnt, o u t - o f - d o o r l a b o u r e r s . T h e i r f a c e s , b u r s t i n g w i t h a plethora of health, and a t r i f l e too flushed and rubicund, suggest t h e i r over-attention to the beer or cyder keg on the boor's back...The f a c e s and arms are s t i p p l e d i n w i t h miniature care, and t i n t e d as i f both had fed on madder or been busy with raspberries, and would be none the worse for a course of brimstone. This passage reveals the extent to which t h i s image angered and confounded many viewers. C l e a r l y the f i g u r e s were seen as a g r i c u l t u r a l laborers. Why then was the c r i t i c so upset by th e i r coarseness? He s t a t e d that they were i l l - w a s h e d , yet n e i t h e r t h e i r s k i n or c l o t h i n g i s d i r t y . He maintained that they were 31 i l l - f e d and yet \"bursting with a plethora of health.\" Beyond the obvious c o n t r a d i c t i o n , why was h e a l t h i n e s s seen here to be troublesome? F i n a l l y , a f t e r having s t a t e d that the p a i r was sunburned\u00E2\u0080\u0094a seemingly adequate e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e i r ruddy complexions, the c r i t i c launched into other explanations, ranging from the p l a u s i b l e (they have been drinking) to the absurd (they have eaten madder, a p l a n t from which a red dye i s made). With a l l of i t s contradictions and angry sarcasm, the review does not attack the p a i n t i n g as being a f a l s e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of r u r a l l i f e . Rather the concern seems to be that i t s t r u t h f u l n e s s i s somehow t e r r i b l y inappropriate. The c r i t i c at the Star of Freedom a l s o had problems with Hunt's painting. He c a l l e d i t both \"repulsive\" yet \"marvellously accurate\" (an i n t e r e s t i n g p a i r of a d j e c t i v e s ) , and complained about the reddened faces of the figures: \"...having worked among a g r i c u l t u r a l labourers, i n a l l seasons of the year, we cannot say that we remember to have seen a red i n t h e i r faces so b r i c k - d u s t -l i k e i n i t s roughness..\"D Thus the reaction to Hunt's painting by both of these c r i t i c s was quite s i m i l a r despite the fact that the f i r s t review appeared i n the c o n s e r v a t i v e Athenaeum, which was devoted to art, science, and l i t e r a t u r e and was published for the i n t e l l i g e n t s i a , w h i l e the l a t t e r review appeared i n a Chartist newspaper committed to the causes of the working class. This somewhat s u r p r i s i n g l a c k of c o n f l i c t d e r i v e s i n part from the broad consensus that existed at t h i s time about the nature of acceptable r u r a l imagery (the reasons for t h i s consensus w i l l be explored l a t e r ) . More generally, i t should a l s o be r e c a l l e d that 32 admission fees e f f e c t i v e l y excluded the working c l a s s e s from attending e x h i b i t i o n s of the Royal Academy (see p. 27,n. 25). Yet i t i s c l e a r from the fact that a Chartist newspaper chose to review such an exhibition that a segment of the working classes wanted to be p a r t of the Academy p u b l i c . To that end a r t c r i t i c i s m i n working-class journals sometimes parroted the views of more e l i t i s t p e r i o d i c a l s i n order to demonstrate that the lower c l a s s e s a l s o possessed the i n t e l l i g e n c e and a e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t y necessary to appreciate \"high\" art. The remaining two reviews which de s c r i b e d the p a i n t i n g at any length were h i g h l y f a v o r a b l e and s t r e s s e d Hunt's r e a l i s m . The f i r s t , appearing i n the Spectator and w r i t t e n by W. M. R o s s e t t i , emphasized the h e a l t h and robustness of the f i g u r e s , t h i s time as p o s i t i v e f e a t u r e s . ' The other, Masson's piece i n the B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, noted the \"audacity with which he [Hunt] has s e l e c t e d such a v e r i t a b l e p a i r of country l a b o u r e r s f o r the p r i n c i p a l f i g u r e s . \" 8 Masson c l e a r l y admired Hunt's p a i n t i n g , yet a l s o f e l t some discomfort: \"That we q u i t e l i k e such extremes of r e a l i s m of p i c t u r e s as the j o l l y shepherd and h i s mate, we cannot i n conscience say; but Mr Hunt i s a man who knows what he i s about better than most c r i t i c s can t e l l him...\"^ F i n a l l y , there are some in t e r e s t i n g omissions and silences. Tom T a y l o r , the a r t c r i t i c f o r Punch, was w i l d l y e n t h u s i a s t i c about M i l l a i s ' Ophe 1 i a and A Huguenot and had a high regard f o r the Pre-Raphaelites i n general. He dealt with the ''problem' of Hunt's coarse laborers by ignoring i t . His only statement about the work contained praise for the landscape background without r e f e r r i n g to the figures at a l l - - a n amazing feat considering how d i f f i c u l t i t i s to eliminate mentally Hunt's large figures from t h e i r dominant p o s i t i o n i n the c o m p o s i t i o n . 1 0 The l i b e r a l Fraser's was even more s i l e n t . The art c r i t i c had kind words for the Pre-Raphaelites, gr e a t l y admired M i l l a i s ' works, yet made no mention at a l l of Hunt's p i c t u r e . 1 1 Ruskin, i t should be r e c a l l e d , a l s o refrained from any p u b l i c comment. Outraged sarcasm, s e l f - c o n s c i o u s discomfort, s i l e n c e s p o s s i b l y born of embarrassment and d i s a p p r o v a l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e reactions of a l l the c r i t i c s , Rossetti excepted, suggest that a wide range of groups within the Academy pu b l i c had d i f f i c u l t y accepting Hunt's r u r a l landscape. C l e a r l y t h i s work presented a view of r u r a l England quite d i f f e r e n t from the customary one which appeared i n paintings and p r i n t s and also i n l i t e r a r y descriptions. Although these depictions p r o l i f e r a t e d throughout English culture i n many forms, they presented a remarkably congruent p o r t r a i t of the countryside because of the unifying p r i n c i p l e s and assumptions on which they were based. A look at some of these works and the t r a d i t i o n from which they arose w i l l help explain p r e c i s e l y how The H i r e l i n g Shepherd was such a di s r u p t i v e image, and what t h i s disruption meant. English r u r a l landscapes of the nineteenth century had e v o l v e d from the Georgic landscape of the eighteenth century, which was rooted i n c l a s s i c a l poetry ( e s p e c i a l l y that of V i r g i l and Horace) and t a r g e t e d a predominantly a r i s t o c r a t i c p u b l i c . The Georgic v i s i o n of an i d y l l i c country l i f e was presented as a p o s i t i v e a l t e r n a t i v e to the e v i l s of c i t y and court. This r u r a l s, w o r l d , p o p u l a t e d by the happy husbandman who p l a n t e d and 34 harvested h i s crops and tended his l i v e s t o c k , promised a l i f e of h e a l t h , v i r t u e and s i m p l i c i t y set i n t o a s t a b l e s o c i a l order which was d i v i n e l y ordained. By the end of the eighteenth century the p u b l i c for r u r a l landscapes expanded to include urban m i d d l e - c l a s s v i e w e r s and buyers as w e l l as the l a n d e d a r i s t o c r a c y . In response to the needs and demands of t h i s broader p u b l i c these images became more r e a l i s t i c , depicting an i d e n t i f i a b l y English countryside inhabited by figures who were c l e a r l y members of the agrarian working c l a s s . 1 2 The f i r s t h a l f o f the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y had seen a g r i c u l t u r a l depression and prolonged a g r a r i a n u n r e s t . 1 3 As a r e s u l t i t became cle a r , even to c i t y dwellers, that a g r i c u l t u r a l labor was exhausting and d i f f i c u l t and, therefore, that workers di d not go about t h i s l a b o r beaming with happiness and good cheer. A r t i s t s , t h e r e f o r e , were faced with the problem of representing r u r a l laborers i n a manner which was accurate enough to be b e l i e v a b l e while s t i l l maintaining the t r a d i t i o n a l image of the country as a p l a c e of s o c i a l s t a b i l i t y , v i r t u e , and abundance. One way a r t i s t s avoided showing l a b o r e r s as t i r e d and unhappy was to p l a c e them i n the d i s t a n c e so that t h e i r faces were too s m a l l t o be s e e n . 1 4 T h i s s i z e r e d u c t i o n a l s o f a c i l i t a t e d attempts to harmonize workers with t h e i r setting, so that they appeared almost as n a t u r a l features, occupying t h e i r r i g h t f u l place i n the u n i v e r s a l order. This technique was used s u c c e s s f u l l y i n Henry Jutsam's A Mountain Spring, which was e x h i b i t e d at the B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n i n 1852. In the d i s t a n c e and middle ground a poor family i s shown gathering wood along the banks of a mountain stream. A p r i n t of t h i s work (Fig. 8, p. 106) was p u b l i s h e d i n the with the comment that \"...some f i g u r e s of wayfarers, j u d i c i o u s l y introduced, form, by t h e i r warmth of l o c a l c o l o u r , an agreeable p o i n t of repose f o r II 1 5 the eye. J The d i s t a n t forms of these l a b o r e r s become f i r s t \"wayfarers\", and then, more abstractly, \"points of repose.\" Thus i s work (performed by the r u r a l poor) transformed into rest (for the middle-class viewer). This process neutralizes any empathy which the viewer might have with these people and obscures the harshness of t h e i r l a b o r . The harmonious i n t e g r a t i o n of t h i s working family into the scene suggests, furthermore, that t h e i r p l a c e at the bottom of the s o c i a l and economic ladder i s as n a t u r a l as t h e i r s u r r o u n d i n g s . 1 6 A hymn w r i t t e n by a Mrs. Alexander i n 1844 suggests that t h e i r s o c i a l status i s not only natural, but d i v i n e l y ordained: The r i c h man i n h i s castle The poor man at h i s gate He made them high and lowly And ordered t h e i r estate Hunt's h i r e l i n g and h i s companion are, by c o n t r a s t , i n d i v i n e l y ordered harmony n e i t h e r with t h e i r s e t t i n g nor t h e i r \" f e l l o w man.\" The f i g u r e s are not set i n t o the d i s t a n c e , but dominate the f o r e g r o u n d , t h e i r forms f i l l i n g a s i z e a b l e p r o p o r t i o n of the p i c t u r e area. The impact such l a r g e and powerful f i g u r e s made on some viewers i s apparent from the previously quoted comments of the Times c r i t i c , who c l e a r l y found them threatening (see p. 30). Enhancing the sense of disharmony 36 i s the f a c t that the f i g u r e s are s h a r p l y o u t l i n e d and t h e i r clothes contrast strongly with the background so that they appear to be i n l a i d i n t o the composition, as W. F. Axton puts i t , l i k e b r i g h t p i e c e s of enamel set i n t o c l o i s o n n e work. 1 8 Because of t h e i r i d l e f l i r t a t i o n the lovers are w i l l f u l l y disregarding t h e i r duty, not o n l y to the sheep, but to the farmer who has h i r e d them. As a r e s u l t the farmer's p r o f i t s are being destroyed--his sheep are dying and h i s g r a i n i s being t r a m p l e d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 w h i l e the perpetrators go unpunished. This s i t u a t i o n i s bound to bring the negligent couple into c o n f l i c t with t h e i r employer. There were ways, of course, i n which r u r a l workers could be shown at close range. Invariably such figures were seen enjoying a moment's l e i s u r e i n order to avoid the uncomfortable prospect of showing c l e a r l y people engaged i n harsh t o i l . One such work was W i l l i a m Mulready's The Sonnet (Fig. 9, p. 107). The young lovers are large, powerful specimens, but t h e i r gentle demeanor and harmless a c t i v i t y neutralizes any threat a r i s i n g from t h e i r size. Also, t h e i r setting i s s u i t a b l y vague insofar as i t i s not obviously an agrarian environment ( i f i t were, the a r t i s t would probably have i n c l u d e d a rake or other t o o l beside the man to i n d i c a t e that he had been working and would r e t u r n to h i s labor shortly). Therefore, there i s no suggestion that t h i s moment of repose has disrupted the r u r a l economy. A l l e n Staley has described The Sonnet as a general thematic antecedent to The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, since both feature working c l a s s l o v e r s as genre s u b j e c t s . 1 ^ But how d i f f e r e n t are Mulready's young people from Hunt'sl Mulready's awkward young 37 poet hunches over, head down, meekly awaiting h i s companion's response to the verses he has written for her. This response i s s u i t a b l y modest; p l a c i n g her hand to her mouth, the young woman expresses an emotion so restrained that i t i s impossible to read. One cannot imagine a sexual encounter f o l l o w i n g t h i s innocent rendez-vous. Such an outcome appears much more l i k e l y with Hunt's beer-drinking shepherd and h i s \"sun-burnt s l u t , \" as Masson r e f e r r e d to h e r . 2 0 The s e d u c t i v e look of the shepherdess and en v e l o p i n g gesture of the shepherd suggests that the s t a b l e t r i a n g l e which t h e i r bodies form could e a s i l y be collapsed. As Macmillan has pointed out, the moral downfall of the shepherdess i s indicated symbolically by the marshy, unstable ground on which she s i t s and the shadow creeping over her feet. She i s s t i l l i n the l i g h t , but i f she i s not c a r e f u l she w i l l plunge i n t o darkness. . The importance of r u r a l v i r t u e i s apparent i n Thomas F. Marshall's work of 1852, The Shepherd's Daughter (see engraving, F i g . 10, p. 108). The demure pose, modest gaze, and a t t r a c t i v e form of the young woman prompted the 11 l u s t r a t e d London News to describe i t as a \"chaste and pleasing study.\" 2 2 -Rural v i r t u e implied temperance as w e l l as sexual r e s t r a i n t . The beer keg at the b e l t of Hunt's shepherd was noted with d i s a p p r o v a l by the Athenaeum c r i t i c , who suggested that the ruddiness of the lovers' faces was caused by \"over-attention to the beer or cyder keg on the boor's back\" (see p. 31). The keg was an unpleasant reminder of what was seen as a major s o c i a l problem by concerned members of the middle and upper c l a s s e s . Insobriety was frequently presented as the preferred occupation of many laboring men. In urging s t r i k i n g machinists to return to 38 work i n January 1852, the e d i t o r s of the Ij_ cautioned: \"In a l l trades there are u n f o r t u n a t e l y a number of i d l e and d i s s o l u t e men who d i s l i k e work\u00E2\u0080\u0094men who, i f they can earn s u f f i c i e n t i n three or four days to keep them for six, w i l l only work three or four days and pass the remainder i n d r i n k i n g and d i s s i p a t i o n . Economics and intemperance were frequently linked i n such a fashion. A writer for Chambers' Edinburgh Journal suggested that e x c e s s i v e d r i n k i n g was the cause of the inadequate l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s of the poor. A f t e r h a ving adv i s e d readers that \"the i n e q u a l i t y of human condition, or the possession of less or more wealth, i s of so l i t t l e importance as to be unworthy of a thought\" (because \" a l l the best g i f t s of the Cr eator.. .are free\"), he went on to suggest that the poor could have nu t r i t i o u s food, warm c l o t h i n g , f u e l , and b e t t e r homes i f they would stop wasting t h e i r money on a l c o h o l . Working c l a s s intemperance, then, was a red f l a g to middle c l a s s m o r a l i s t s , who saw i t as the root of economic and s o c i a l problems f o r employers and workers a l i k e . Reminders of such an e v i l had no p l a c e i n a scene which was supposed to r e a f f i r m o n l y the p o s i t i v e f e a t u r e s of the countryside and i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . 2 5 The q u a l i t i e s of moral r e s t r a i n t manifested i n t r a d i t i o n a l r u r a l scenes, such as those by Mulready and Marshall previously mentioned, r e i n f o r c e d the notion that v i r t u e r e s i d e d i n the country and v i c e i n the c i t y . M..D. H i l l , i n testimony before the Select Committee on Crime and Destitute Juveniles, attempted to j u s t i f y t h i s attitude toward r u r a l v i r t u e and urban vice: 39 ...in the small towns there must be a sort of natural p o l i c e of a very wholesome kind, operating upon the conduct of each i n d i v i d u a l , who l i v e s as i t were under the p u b l i c eye; but i n a l a r g e town, he l i v e s , i f he chooses, i n ab s o l u t e obscurity...which to a certa i n extent gives impunity. 2 6 He went on to state that crime had increased with the increasing p h y s i c a l s e p a r a t i o n of the c l a s s e s ( i . e., since w e a l t h i e r people began moving to the c i t i e s , leaving the countryside to the poor): \"The r e s u l t of the o l d habit was, the r i c h and poor l i v e d i n proximity and the superior classes exercised that species of s i l e n t but very e f f i c i e n t control over t h e i r neighbors to which I have already referred.\" 2^ H i l l c l e a r l y f e l t that the r u r a l poor had once been moral because a \" n a t u r a l p o l i c e \" formed by t h e i r economic superiors was able to control t h e i r behavior e f f e c t i v e l y and s i l e n t l y ( p o s s i b l y without t h e i r even r e a l i z i n g what was happening). The idea of the countryside as a symbolic (or a c t u a l ) r e p o s i t o r y of v i r t u e took on a s p e c i a l urgency at a time when many feared that the encroachment of i n d u s t r y and u r b a n i z a t i o n would envelop and contaminate r u r a l areas. Robert Surtees a r t i c u l a t e d t h i s p a r t i c u l a r a t t i t u d e i n the 1852 n o v e l , Mr. Sponge' s S p o r t i n g Tour, i n which he des c r i b e d the o l d Handley Cross neighborhood as a r i c h grazing d i s t r i c t f u l l of r u r a l beauties and renowned fo r the honest independence of i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . Neither factory nor foundry disturbed i t s morals or i t s quietude\u00E2\u0080\u0094 steam and railroads were equally unknown. 40 Rural v i r t u e , Surtees seems to be saying, i s p r e d i c a t e d on a c l e a r s e p a r a t i o n of c i t y and country. The immorality of Hunt's r u s t i c s , whose d a l l i a n c e was f u e l l e d by the beer keg on the shepherd's b e l t , would seem to signal the c o l l a p s e of the moral b a r r i e r which insulates the country from the c i t y . The need to maintain t h i s separation can a l s o be explained by the d e s i r e of the urban c l a s s e s to see the countryside as a p l a c e of repose--a necessary r e t r e a t from the s t r e s s e s of c i t y l i v i n g . By 1852 t h i s image of a r e s t o r a t i v e countryside was accessible to a l l classes of the urban public, not just the r i c h . A c c o r d i n g l y , i n remarks which prefaced the review of the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n of 1852 i n the Star of Freedom, the c r i t i c explained how landscape a r t i s t s served the urban public: We love Pictures, c e r t a i n of which possess the magic of opening a l l heaven upon our soul. A Picture G a l l e r y to us, who are shut up i n a gloomy c i t y , i s l i k e those springs which, of o l d , flowed by the E n g l i s h road-side, and which had a r e s t i n g - s e a t f o r the weary t r a v e l l e r to s i t , and a bowl attached f o r him to r e f r e s h h i m s e l f with a d r a f t of the pure f r e e water. They are our way-side sacrament. In the absence of the r e a l i t y , we have a blessed p r i v i l e g e i n the painter's happy art. B l e s s i n g s on them who keep such p l o t s of Eden a l i v e , and warm, and green i n t h e i r hearts, and b r i n g them to us, welcome and dear as the c o o l sod of earth to the f e e t of the poor sky-lark caged i n i t s smoky c i t y prison. 0 Although t h i s c r i t i c professed to have worked with a g r i c u l t u r a l laborers a l l through the year, he seemed to have forgotten t h e i r importance i n f a s h i o n i n g t h i s world of beauty and refreshment. T r u l y the s u f f e r i n g of the a g r a r i a n poor would be an unwelcome intrusion into t h i s English Eden, which exists for the benefit of the urban d w e l l e r caged i n h i s \"smoky c i t y prison.\" I t i s 41 important to note that landscape painting was presented here as a surrogate f o r the countryside; as such i t performed the same r e s t o r a t i v e f u n c t i o n . By producing a r u r a l landscape i n which there was immorality, harmful neglect, and suffering, Hunt denied his urban viewers the benefits they had come to expect from r u r a l England and i t s v i s u a l representation. That i s , he f a i l e d i n h i s \"sacramental' duty to p r o v i d e a r e s t o r a t i v e image of r u r a l beauty, and he f u r t h e r suggested that the a c t u a l c o untryside might not be as p e a c e f u l and b o u n t i f u l as the viewer might wish. The sentiments expressed by the c r i t i c at the Star of Freedom can be found throughout the s o c i a l s t r a t a . The very conservative, e l i t i s t Art Journal, for example, employed a r t i s t s such as F. W. Hulme and Myles B i r k e t t Foster throughout the 1850's to produce i d y l l i c r u r a l landscape i l l u s t r a t i o n s which were the v i s u a l counterparts of the passage quoted from the Star of Freedom. x J u s t because t h i s view of the countryside was so p e r v a s i v e , both i n p u b l i c consciousness and i n a r t , does not mean, however, that the v a l u e s i t expressed were permanent, u n i v e r s a l , and transcendent. Rather t h i s v i s i o n was based on i d e o l o g i c a l assumptions\u00E2\u0080\u0094composites of t r u t h , falsehoods, and hidden c o n t r a d i c t i o n s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 w h i c h were s p e c i f i c to the h i s t o r i c a l circumstances of t h i s time. To understand why Hunt's image, which r e j e c t e d Georgic conventions of r u r a l harmony, m o r a l i t y , and s t a b i l i t y , was so t h r e a t e n i n g i t i s necessary to explore these h i s t o r i c a l circumstances, i.e., the c o n d i t i o n of E n g l i s h a g r i c u l t u r e at mid-century. The r e a l i t y of a g r i c u l t u r a l l i f e i n the l a t e 1840's and 42 e a r l y 1850's was one of economic d i s t r e s s i n the midst of i n d u s t r i a l prosperity reaped p r i n c i p a l l y by the urban middle and upper classes. A g r i c u l t u r a l depression haunted the entire decade of the 1840's and was s t i l l an important enough issue i n 1851 to merit mention i n Queen V i c t o r i a ' s speech f o r the opening of Parliament that year. ^ At the bottom of the economic ladder the r u r a l poor were hardest h i t by the depression. Key f a c t o r s contributing to t h e i r abysmal l i v i n g conditions were a s c a r c i t y of jobs, low wages (eight to ten s h i l l i n g s per week) 3 3 and a la c k 34 of clean, inexpensive housing. Many r u r a l laborers, e s p e c i a l l y the young, chose to seek a better l i f e i n the c i t y , joining the ranks of the urban poor who were a l r e a d y compressed i n t o s q u a l i d tenements i n c i t i e s unprepared f o r t h e i r i n c r e a s i n g numbers. 3 5 The most m i l i t a n t among those who remained behind expressed anger at t h e i r economic e x p l o i t a t i o n by r e s o r t i n g to arson. Between 1848 and 1852 th i r t y - e i g h t per cent of the r u r a l prisoners i n j a i l at Ipswich and Bury were s e r v i n g sentences f o r i n c e n d i a r i s m . 3 6 In James Caird's d e t a i l e d survey of E n g l i s h a g r i c u l t u r e i n 1850-1 i t i s recorded that incendiary f i r e s were an almost n i g h t l y occurrence i n Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire: Many farmers l i v e i n constant apprehension of them [ f i r e s ] , and, with t h e i r f a m i l i e s are kept i n a s t a t e of nervous excitement which we had not expected to find i n any English county...To say that i n a d i s t r i c t within 50 miles of London property i s so insecure and even l i f e i n some degree of hazard i s to t e l l of a country i n a semi-barbarous s t a t e . 3 ' C a i r d a t t r i b u t e d t h i s arson to anger over low wages, which 43 coupled with high cottage rents, l e f t l a b o r e r s with l i t t l e to spend for the necessities of l i f e . The f a l l of 1851 saw the best h a r v e s t i n s e v e r a l seasons, yet the r e s u l t of years of economic hardship was not to be erased q u i c k l y . Incendiarism continued i n t o 1852: a week before the Royal Academy Exhibition opened, arsonists burned down the entire v i l l a g e of Harwell, an event which a t t r a c t e d thousands of s p e c t a t o r s and prominent n o t i c e i n the London p r e s s . 3 9 In a d d i t i o n to these i n c i d e n t s were numerous accounts of poaching which i n the 1850's took on the aspect of a \" g u e r r i l l a c l a s s action,\" according to Howard Newby.^0 The r u r a l landscapes produced during the l a t e 1840's, unsurprisingly, did not depict barren f i e l d s , starving peasants or a land l a i d waste by arson. Instead images of the country-side reassured urban viewers that a l l was w e l l . W i l l i a m F. Witherington's Harvest F i e l d of 1848 (Fig. 11, p. 109) and Henry Jutsam's 1849 work of the same name (see engraving, F i g . 12, p. 110) present remarkably s i m i l a r views of a bountiful harvest r e p l e t e with hay stacks and wagons h e a v i l y loaded with g r a i n . Completing the two scenes are the figures of f i e l d workers. Men in the background tend the wagons, while t h e i r wives and c h i l d r e n occupy the fore- and middle ground, gleaning, bundling grain, and resting with t h e i r babies. The presence of women and c h i l d r e n i n the f i e l d s affirms the v i r t u e of f a m i l y l i v i n g , where i n d i v i d u a l s can work and r e s t , supported by the bonds of f a m i l i a l l o v e and duty. A r t i s t s and writers were constantly reminding t h e i r p u b l i c that strong family t i e s among the poor prevented sexual p r o m i s c u i t y and promoted 44 sobriety and industriousness (happy family men don't s i t i n a l e -houses a l l day d r i n k i n g i n s t e a d of working). As a r e s u l t , t h i s p e r i o d was marked by the production of enormous numbers of cottage i n t e r i o r s , showing happy r u r a l f a m i l i e s gathered around the dinner table or the hearth. At t h i s same time tavern scenes, such as those produced by Morland and W i l k i e h a l f a century e a r l i e r , were seldom to be s e e n . 4 1 Hunt's image prov i d e d a sharp contrast to these f a m i l i a l scenes. His r u r a l l o v ers appear to be unmarried, are t o t a l l y unsupervised, and seem about to succumb to the p l e a s u r e s of the keg and the f l e s h . The damage done by t h e i r a c t i v e immorality i s immediately apparent i n the abundant landscape surrounding them. In c o n t r a s t the l a b o r i n g f a m i l i e s of The Harvest F i e l d , surrounded by abundance, are harmoniously i n t e g r a t e d i n t o t h e i r world of l a b o r and l e i s u r e . U n l i k e Hunt's p a i n t i n g , i d l e n e s s i s presented here as a w e l l -earned and temporary r e s p i t e from hard work. Such images of agrarian bounty and harmony must have been a welcome sight to an urban p u b l i c faced with the s o c i a l and economic r e a l i t y of a g r i c u l t u r a l d i s t r e s s and r u r a l violence. Throughout t h i s same period a re l a t e d economic threat coming from the l a n d e d i n t e r e s t l e d the urban commercial and i n d u s t r i a l i s t classes to promote even more vigorously images of r u r a l l i f e which emphasized a g r i c u l t u r a l abundance and s o c i a l harmony. T h i s p e r c e i v e d t h r e a t c o n c e r n e d the c o n t i n u i n g c o n t r o v e r s y over t r a d i n g r e s t r i c t i o n s on g r a i n . In 1846 the Anti-Corn Law League, a c o a l i t i o n of commercial and i n d u s t r i a l interests, succeeded i n e f f e c t i n g the repeal of the Corn Laws i n 45 Parliament. The repeal eliminated the duty on grain imports, and thus assured a steady, inexpensive supply of grain for domestic markets. This grain was the basic food source (as bread) for the i n d u s t r i a l working c l a s s . Low bread prices meant that employers c o u l d pay lower wages to t h e i r workers, and a l s o would pay reduced poor ra t e s , which were d i r e c t l y t i e d to bread p r i c e s . Rural property owners, from farmers to the landed a r i s t o c r a c y , n a t u r a l l y opposed the repeal, since i t would lower the value of domestic grain. Although the issue seemed to be s e t t l e d with the passage of the Repeal Act i n 1846, P r o t e c t i o n i s t s (the r u r a l i n t e r e s t ) continued to a g i t a t e f o r r e - i m p o s i t i o n of the duty throughout the l a t e 1840's and e a r l y 1850's. F i v e years a f t e r r e p e a l , emotions s t i l l ran high. In May 1851 a P r o t e c t i o n i s t meeting at Tamworth ended i n a r i o t which l a s t e d two days and r e q u i r e d m i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n . ^ 2 At the same time the landed i n t e r e s t i n Parliament was p r e s s i n g f o r reimposition of grain duties on the grounds that they were needed to assuage the c u r r e n t economic c r i s i s i n a g r i c u l t u r e . These peers emphasized the harshness of the r u r a l depression and warned of the dire consequences which would follow i f the urban i n t e r e s t attempted to minimize the situation. The Spectator recorded the following warning by one of the P r o t e c t i o n i s t s : The Duke of Richmond d e c l a r e d that i f the farmers are any more taunted with the fewness of a g r i c u l t u r a l paupers, they w i l l discharge the immense masses of l a b o u r e r s whom i n c h a r i t y they now employ to a quadruple degree beyond the wants of the land: and i f they do t h i s remember that crime follows idleness. [emphasis mine] 46 Immediately f o l l o w i n g t h i s speech, p r o - i n d u s t r i a l i s t speakers attempted to d i s c r e d i t Richmond, maintaining that conditions i n the countryside were not n e a r l y as bleak as the P r o t e c t i o n i s t s 44 had indicated. February 1852 brought a change of government; the pro-i n d u s t r i a l Whig, Lord Russell was replaced as prime minister by the P r o t e c t i o n i s t Lord Derby. Immediately, c r i e s for and against P r o t e c t i o n were h e a r d i n P a r l i a m e n t , and the urban p r e s s continued i t s campaign of a l t e r n a t e l y chastising Protectionists and making c o n c i l i a t o r y gestures to them. The dominant message was that r u r a l and c i t y f o l k each must do t h e i r share f o r the economic b e t t e r m e n t o f the whole s o c i e t y . In 1851 the I 1 1 u s t r a t e d London News p u b l i s h e d a song, \"Trade and Spade,\" which a r t i c u l a t e d t h i s viewpoint q u i t e c l e a r l y . The opening verses t r a c e d the growing schism between town and country. The second verse took up the problem of r u r a l idleness i n terms that seem intended for a r u s t i c l i k e Hunt's h i r e l i n g : And Trade l o s t temper i n h i s pride He utter'd words of scorn; \"You do not know the ways of men: Amid your sheep and corn You doze away the busy day, Nor think how minutes run: Go, put your shoulder to your work And do as I have done.\" 4 The song ends w i t h the f a c t i o n s r e u n i t e d , b o t h working industriously for the good of a duty-free England. Throughout the economic and p o l i t i c a l debates of the early 1850's, then, c i t y dwellers were constantly being reminded of the 47 e v i l s of idleness i n r u r a l workers. The Duke of Richmond pointed to the i n c r e a s e i n crime that f o l l o w s r u r a l i d l e n e s s , w h i l e \"Trade and Spade\" emphasized the economic harm that such idleness b r i n g s . In order to maintain s o c i a l c o n t r o l over a g r a r i a n l a b o r e r s , then, i t was i n the best i n t e r e s t s of the urban classes, e s p e c i a l l y the entrepreneurial e l i t e (who stood to gain the most) to promote a view of r u r a l l i f e which affirmed that a sober, i n d u s t r i o u s , and d o c i l e working c l a s s was l a b o r i n g i n harmony with farmers and landowners to p r o v i d e an abundance of a g r i c u l t u r a l produce. The H i r e l i n g Shepherd presented a picture of agrarian l i f e which was s t a r k l y at v a r i a n c e with t h i s i d e a l image. Id l e n e s s was a feature of t h i s work prominent enough to be mentioned i n three reviews.^ 6 I t s unacceptabi 1 i t y was made c l e a r by the Athenaeum c r i t i c who f i n i s h e d h i s attack on the p a i n t i n g by stating that \"Mr. Hunt's \"Love i n Idleness' may be compared with Love and Labour by Mr. [Richard] Redgrave.\" The l a t t e r work (unlocated), \"a charming b i t of r u r a l i n c i d e n t , \" a l s o had a l o v i n g couple i n the foreground, but behind them were mowers reaping on a h i l l , \"keeping workmanlike time with step and scythe r i g h t p l e a s i n g to farmers eye.\"^ I t was acceptable to be i d l e i n a modern Georgic only so long as someone was doing the work. The w i l l f u l nature of the l o v e r s ' immoral and n e g l e c t f u l behavior, coupled with t h e i r coarseness, brought Hunt's painting i n t o c o n f l i c t w i t h o t h e r m i d d l e - c l a s s assumptions and expectations. This was a dominant c l a s s which l e g i t i m i z e d i t s power by i n s i s t i n g that the lower classes imitate t h e i r superiors 4 8 i n o r d e r t o a c h i e v e economic s u c c e s s . T h i s demand f o r 48 i m i t a t i o n was the t o u c h s t o n e of e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l i d e o l o g y throughout the e n t i r e p e r i o d , and was expressed i n i t s most popular form through the rags-to-riches stories appearing i n the An s e l f - h e l p books of Samuel Smiles l a t e r i n the decade. A e s t h e t i c a l l y t h i s requirement for imitation demanded that the l a b o r i n g poor not o n l y behave p r o p e r l y , but a l s o assume a modest and pleasing appearance. Therefore, although t r a d i t i o n a l r u r a l landscapes showed l a b o r e r s who c l e a r l y belonged to the lower c l a s s e s by v i r t u e o f t h e i r d r e s s , a c t i v i t y , and surroundings, t h e i r appearance was nearly always i d e a l i z e d toward m i d d l e - c l a s s notions of decorum. In a l l of the r u r a l images discus s e d thus f a r f i e l d workers are shown with n e a t l y c o i f f e d h a i r , t r i m bodies, and the p a l e , unblemished s k i n so p r i z e d by r e f i n e d urban s o c i e t y , but so d i f f i c u l t to achieve i f one i s a c t u a l l y working outside a l l d a y . 5 0 The u n r u l y h a i r , reddened skin, and l a r g e , c o a r s e bodies of Hunt's p a i r are a reproof to these aesthetic conventions, and reinforce the disregard which the couple would seem to have for the value system t h e i r economic s u p e r i o r s wish t o impose on them. The angry, s a r c a s t i c d e s c r i p t i o n s of Hunt's 'coarse brutes' i n the c o n s e r v a t i v e i n d u s t r i a l p r e s s t e s t i f y t o the importance of s e e m i n g l y s u p e r f i c i a l a r t i s t i c conventions. Likewise, the discomfort which the Chartist c r i t i c expressed at seeing such ruddy-complexioned laborers may t e s t i f y to the success of t h i s s o c i a l strategy. The c r i t i c may have f e l t that the o n l y way workers would gain p o l i t i c a l and economic power was by b l e n d i n g i n with t h e i r m a s t e r s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a t i s , by l o o k i n g and behaving l i k e earnest, w e l l -groomed, middle-class V i c t o r i a n s . 49 The preceding discussions indicate that while, as Macmillan and E r r i n g t o n maintain, Hunt may have intended h i s p i c t u r e to function p r i m a r i l y as an anti-pastoral, the major impact of the work resu l t e d from i t s more broadly-based anti-Georgic character. That i s , i t challenged the assumptions and hidden contradictions which supported contemporary images of the \" r e a l \" E n g l i s h c o u n t r y s i d e as w e l l as those u n d e r l y i n g the myth of Arcadia. Successful images l i k e the two Harvest F i e l d paintings affirmed t h a t a g r i c u l t u r e was f l o u r i s h i n g and that r u r a l workers were content and a c t i v e at a time of economic d i s t r e s s and worker unrest. By e f f e c t i v e l y negating t h i s image The H i r e l i n g Shepherd served as an unbidden reminder that the urban middle and upper c l a s s e s had n e i t h e r t o t a l economic c o n t r o l over a g r i c u l t u r a l production nor complete i d e o l o g i c a l c o n t r o l of the r u r a l poor. The vehemence with which t h i s a n t i - G e o r g i c was r e j e c t e d by c o n s e r v a t i v e and c e n t r i s t elements i n the i n d u s t r i a l i s t press indicates how important i t was for them to maintain control over the p u b l i c ' s p e r c e p t i o n of the countryside. With apparent t h r e a t s to t h e i r dominance coming from r u r a l i n t e r e s t s and the r u r a l and urban working c l a s s e s ^ i t i s not s u r p r i s i n g to f i n d that p o l i t i c a l and c u l t u r a l conservatives were highly i n t o l e r a n t of Hunt's challenge to t h e i r i d y l l i c version of r u r a l England. 50 NOTES 1. The r e v i e w s appeared i n the Times (May 1, p. 8), Athenaeum (May 22, p. 581), A r t J o u r n a l (June 1, p. 1741, B r i t i s h Q u a r t e r l y Review 0 - 6 , pp. 197-220), Spectator (May 15, p. 472), Star of Freedom (May 29, p~. 2), Punch (June 26, p. 7), and 111 u s t r a t e d London News (May 22, p. 407). 2. \"Exhibition of the Royal Academy,\" Times, May 1, 1852, p. 8. 3. \"The Royal Academy (Second Notice),\" I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, May 22, 1852, p. 407. 4. The works of Claude and Boucher were very much out of fa s h i o n i n the l a t e 1840's and 1850's. Instead, Dutch landscapes were i n vogue, appearing r e g u l a r l y on the pages of A r t J o u r n a l and even m e r i t i n g mention i n C h a r l e s Kingsley's 1850 n o v e l , A l t o n Locke (London: Macmillan, 1905, p. 47). 5. \"The Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, p. 581. 6. \"A V i s i t to the Royal Academy,\" Star of Freedom, May 29, 1852, p. 2. 7. [William M. Rossetti], \"The Royal Academy Exhibition,\" Spectator, May 15, 1852, p. 472. 8. [David Masson], Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphaelitism, The Germ, and the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n , B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), p. 216. 9. Ibid. 10. [Tom Taylor], \"*0ur C r i t i c ' among the Pictures,\" Punch, June 26, 1852, p. 7. 11. \"Art and the Royal Academy,\" Fraser's Magazine, 46 (August 1852), pp. 228-36. 12. See John B a r r e l l , The Dark Side of the Landscape (Cambridge: Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1980) f o r a f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n of the development of Georgic painting i n eighteenth century England. 13. Many s o c i a l h i s t o r i e s of t h i s p e r i o d have been p u b l i s h e d . One of the f i n e s t i s E. J. Hobsbawm and George Rude, Captain Swing (New York: W. W. Norton, 1968), which focuses on the r u r a l uprising of 1830. 51 14. This d i s t a n c i n g process was not r e s t r i c t e d to the v i s u a l a r t s . Mrs. G a s k e l l , u s u a l l y noted f o r her sympathetic, i f unidimensional, portrayals of the lower classes, banished l o c a l laborers into the distance at a p o i n t i n North and South when Margaret was d e s c r i b i n g the quiet countryside around her v i l l a g e : \"Sometimes I used to hear a farmer speaking sharp and loud to h i s servants, but i t was so far away that i t only reminded one p l e a s a n t l y that other people were hard at work i n some d i s t a n t p l a c e , w h i l e I j u s t sat on the heather and did nothing\" {Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South [New York: Putnam, 1906 ( o r i g . pub. 1855)], p. 117}. Used in t h i s way distance not only diminishes the harshness of manual labor, but a l s o the c o n f l i c t between masters and servants. 15. \"Opening of the B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n , \" I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, 20 (February 14, 1852), p. 148. 16. This process of n a t u r a l i z a t i o n can a l s o be seen i n a poem by Desmond Ryan p u b l i s h e d as a song, \"A Song of Spring,\" i n the 111 u s t r a t e d London News, May 4, 1850 (p. 309). The l a s t verse began: \"The ploughboy's w h i s t l e , s h r i l l and strong,/Comes blended with the milkmaid's song;/The low of kine, adown the dale,/And c a l l of b l e a t i n g f l o c k s , p r e v a i l , / A l l Nature wide \u00E2\u0080\u0094 heaven, earth, and sea~/Resounds with varied melody.\" The singing and w h i s t l i n g workers blend with the lowing and b l e a t i n g l i v e s t o c k to form the natural fauna of the r u r a l landscape. 17. Quoted i n S h e i l a Smith, The Other Nation: The Poor i n Eng 1 ij3h N o v e l s of the 1840' s and 1850's (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980~J, p. 36. 18. W. F. Axton, \" V i c t o r i a n Landscape P a i n t i n g : A Change i n Outlook,\" i n Nature and the V i c t o r i a n Imagination, eds. U. C. Knoepflmacher and G. B. Tennyson (Berkeley: Univ e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1977), p. 304. 19. A l l e n S t a l e y , The P r e - R a p h a e l i t e Landscape (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973), p. 304. 20. Masson, p. 216, 21. John Duncan M a c m i l l a n , \"Holman Hunt's Hir_e__l_iric[ Shepherd: Some Reflections on a V i c t o r i a n Pastoral,\" A r t B u i l e t i n , 54 (1972), p. 193. 22. \"Opening of the B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n , \" 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, 20 (February 14, 1852) p. 148. Note that although the young woman i s not shown working, she i s surrounded by the evidence of her l a b o r \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e sheep, bucket, broom and spindle. These objects were divorced from t h e i r true s i g n i f i c a n c e by the reviewer, who 52 r e f e r r e d t o them as \" a c c e s s o r i e s t a s t e f u l l y introduced\" ( i b i d . ) . 23. \"The Engineers and t h e i r Employers,\" I l l u s t r a t e d London News, January 10, 1852, p. 26. 24. \"The S t r e n g t h s and D u t i e s of P o v e r t y , \" Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, 13 (February 2, 1850), p. 66. 25. Judith Bronkhurst suggests that Hunt may have included the beer keg to re c o r d h i s d i s a p p r o v a l of the common practice of providing r u r a l laborers with beer i n place of pay {[Tate G a l l e r y ] , The P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s (London: A l l e n Lane, 1984), p. 95}. If t h i s was indeed the case i t was not noted by the c r i t i c s . 26. \"Report of the S e l e c t Committee on C r i m i n a l and Destitute Juveniles\" (1852), excerpted i n The Idea of the C i t y i n Nineteenth Century B r i t a i n , ed. B. I. Coleman (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973), p. 132. Coleman s t a t e s that H i l l was a r a d i c a l i n p o l i t i c s , which, g i v e n the c o n s e r v a t i v e tenor of the l a t t e r ' s remarks, should i n d i c a t e the narrow range of p o l i t i c a l attitudes toward the working classes at t h i s time. 27. Ibid. 28. For a d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s i s sue see George H. Ford, \" F e l i c i t o u s Space: The Cottage Controversy,\" i n Nature and the V i c t o r i a n Imagination, eds. U. C. Knoepflmacher and G. B. Tennyson (Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1977), pp. 29-48. 29. Robert Surtees, Mr. Sponge's S p o r t i n g Tour (1852), quoted i n Richard Faber, Proper S t a t i o n s : C l a s s i n V i c t o r i a n F i c t i o n (London: Faber and Faber, 1971), p. 65. 30. \"A V i s i t to the Royal Academy,\" Star of Freedom, May 29, 1852, p. 2. 31. See, for example, V i i l a g e Homes, an i l l u s t r a t i o n by F. W. Hulme which appeared i n the A r t Journa1, 12 (1850), p. 107. 32. Spectator, 24 (February 15, 1851), p. 146. 33. \" A g r i c u l t u r a l Labourers,\" Spectator, 24 (February 8, 1851), p. 134. 34. \"Decrease of Cottages,\" Spectator, 24 (June 28, 1851), p. 614. 53 35. The p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y of London doubled from 1801 to 1900. See J. A. Banks, \"Population Change and the V i c t o r i a n C i t y , \" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 11 (March 1968), p. 278. 36. Howard Newby, The D e f e r e n t i a l Worker (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1979), p. 64. 37. James Caird, E n g l i s h A g r i c u l t u r e i n 1850-51 (London: Frank Cass, 1852), pp. 467-8. 38. Ibid. 39. \" D e s t r u c t i v e F i r e i n Berkshire,\" 111ustrated London News, 20 (May 1, 1852), p. 332. 40. Newby, p. 64. 41. See, f o r example, David W i l k i e ' s V i 1 1 age P o l i t i c i a n s (1806) and George Morland's The Alehouse Door (1792). These two works are discussed i n Barrel 1, pp. 111-5. 42. Spectator, 24 (May 31, 1851), p. 511. 43. \" A g r i c u l t u r a l D i s t r e s s , \" Spectator, 24 (February 22, 1851), p. 172. 44. Ibid. 45. Charles Mackay, \"Trade and Spade,\" I I l u s t r a t e d London News, 18 (May 17, 1851), p. 438. 46. The reviews were those from the Athenaeum, B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, and Spectator. 47. \"The Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, p. 582. 48. R e i n h o l d Bendix, \"The S e 1 f - 1 e g i t i m i z a t i o n of an E n t r e p r e n e u r i a l C l a s s , \" Z e i t s c h r i f t f i i r die Gesammte Staatswissenschaft, 110 (1954), p. 68. 49. The ingenuity of t h i s i d e o l o g i c a l strategy i s l a r g e l y l o s t today because i t i s s t i l l so p e r v a s i v e . I t was not always so. In eighteenth century England, f o r example, no one would have suggested t h a t e i t h e r the working poor or the middle c l a s s e s c o u l d succeed by pursuing the l i f e of l e i s u r e which was seen as the b i r t h r i g h t of the p r i v i l e g e d classes. 50. Mulready's l o v e r s i n The Sonnet possess monumental forms, but t h e i r d e r i v a t i o n from Miche1ange1esque models i s so e x p l i c i t that they c o u l d not be seen as brutish. 54 51. Urban unrest was even more r i f e than a g r i c u l t u r a l disturbances. The e a r l y months of 1852 saw London and Manchester racked with an i n d u s t r i a l s t r i k e which at one point affected twenty thousand workers. In seeking an end to the dispute, owners and managers r e p e a t e d l y warned s t r i k e r s of the l u r e of i d l e n e s s (see, f o r example, \"Amicus,\" l e t t e r to the Times, January 10, 1852, p. 3). Thus, Hunt's i d l i n g l a b o r e r s may a l s o have raised unpleasant associations for his p u b l i c with t h i s recent i n t r a n s i g e n c e on the p a r t of the urban labor force. 55 CHAPTER III A Clash of Aesthetics In a n a l y z i n g the negative c r i t i c i s m generated by The H i r e l i n g Shepherd i t becomes apparent that Hunt's detractors were unab 1 e or u n w i l l i n g to read any mora 1 from i t at a l l , even on the most s u p e r f i c i a l l e v e l . No doubt the unpleasant s o c i a l and economic i s s u e s r a i s e d by the image p a r t i a l l y obscured i t s d i d a c t i c meaning. This i s i r o n i c , f o r the work was intended to be read as an indictment r a t h e r than a c e l e b r a t i o n of i d l e n e s s , sexual promiscuity, and intemperance. It could be claimed that the c r i t i c s simply did not understand Hunt's pastoral symbolism were i t not for the fact that Rossetti's c r i t i q u e , which appeared on May 15th, emphasized the work's moral s i g n i f i c a n c e . S t a t i n g that the t i t l e was \"the moral condensed,\" Rossetti explained that the scene was not a c a s u a l i n c i d e n t of shepherd l i f e , but had a moral suggestiveness which pervaded the entire composition. He then a l l u d e d to the u n d e r l y i n g s i g n i f i c a n c e of the n e g l e c t f u l h i r e l i n g , the death's head moth, the unripe apples and the s t r a y i n g sheep. 1 The A r t J o u r n a l , Athenaeum, Star of Freedom, and Ij_ N^ published reviews two to four weeks af t e r Rossetti's piece appeared, and thus had access to a basic explanation of the work's symbolism. Nonetheless the l a s t three made no mention of an u n d e r l y i n g moral, whi l e the A r t Journa1 dismissed i t with contempt: \"...but moral s e n t i m e n t \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a l t h o u g h the p r o f e s s i o n of the p i c t u r e \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i s altogether superseded by an overweening desire f o r e c c e n t r i c d i s t i n c t i o n . \" 2 This remark conveys the c r i t i c ' s anger, but does not explain i t . 56 F o r t u n a t e l y , other w r i t e r s were more f o r t h r i g h t about the nature of Hunt's \" e c c e n t r i c i t y : \" ...we hope that Mr. Hunt may surmount the e c c e n t r i c i t i e s which g i v e h i s f i g u r e s minuteness without d e l i c a c y , as G u l l i v e r d e s c r i b e s the stumps of a human beard to be inexpressibly disgusting to L i l l i p u t i a n eyes wrote the Times c r i t i c . E a r l i e r i n the same a r t i c l e the c r i t i c had described more generally the basic problem raised by the Pre-Raphaelites' highly p a r t i c u l a r i z e d compositions. The tendencies of these j u n i o r a r t i s t s are d i a m e t r i c a l l y opposed to the t r a d i t i o n a l merits and defects of the English school of p a i n t i n g , as i t has e x i s t e d f o r the l a s t h a l f -century. Instead of breadth, effect, and a vague f e e l i n g of the grand and the b e a u t i f u l , conveyed by a somewhat loose and random s t y l e of execution, t h e y aim at e x c e s s i v e precision, minute p a r t i c u l a r i t y , a f i d e l i t y of d e t a i l which they cannot at present combine with general truth of v i s i o n , and a study of a c c e s s o r i e s which i s not e a s i l y a l l i e d to deep inter e s t or poetic f e e l i n g . Hunt, M i l l a i s , and C o l l i n s are seen here to have s a c r i f i c e d g e n e r a l Truth, a s s o c i a t e d with beauty, grandeur and broad e f f e c t s , f o r an i n f e r i o r form of r e a l i s m \u00E2\u0080\u0094 marked by s l a v i s h d e d i c a t i o n to accuracy and d e t a i l . This r e j e c t i o n of what was perceived as the t r a d i t i o n a l aesthetics of the 'English School,' was the central issue i n discussions of Pre-Raphaelitism i n the 1850's. For example, Masson began h i s 1852 review of Pre-R a p h a e l i t i s m by quoting those excerpts from Joshua Reynolds' Discourses which he judged to be e s p e c i a l l y r e p e l l e n t to the young a r t i s t s . In Discourse I I I (1770) Reynolds considered the 57 notion of an i d e a l and generalized art: \"...the whole beauty and grandeur of the art consists, i n my opinion, i n being able to get above a l l s i n g u l a r forms, l o c a l customs, p a r t i c u l a r i t i e s and d e t a i l s of every kind.\" Later he e x p l a i n e d that \" t h i s idea of the p e r f e c t s t a t e of nature, which the a r t i s t c a l l s the i d e a l beauty, i s the great l e a d i n g p r i n c i p l e by which works of genius are conducted.\" 5 This idea of perfect nature and i d e a l beauty had a r i g h t to be c a l l e d d i v i n e , Reynolds maintained, sin c e i t expressed God's p e r f e c t p l a n f o r the world. 6 By making an analogy between a e s t h e t i c and e t h i c a l harmony, he was a b l e to equate i d e a l beauty with a perfect world order, composed of moral laws and s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s which were d i v i n e l y f i x e d . This p e r f e c t moral and s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o p e r a t e d d e s p i t e the imperfections of e x i s t i n g s o c i e t y ; the task of a r t was to make v i s i b l e these transcendent p r i n c i p l e s . T h i s type of a r t , which f e a t u r e d i d e a l i z e d forms and elevated subject matter, was directed to a narrow and p r i v i l e g e d p u b l i c , the landed a r i s t o c r a c y above a l l , who were more than w i l l i n g to accept a r t i s t i c confirmation that t h e i r place i n the s o c i a l h i e r a r c h y was n a t u r a l and d i v i n e l y ordained. Only t h i s group possessed the s o c i a l refinement, c l a s s i c a l education, and e x p e r i e n c e g a i n e d through t r a v e l t o respond to i d e a l s of u n i v e r s a l t r u t h and beauty expounded by a n c i e n t a u t h o r s , d i s p l a y e d i n the works of the High Renaissance masters, and reproduced i n the c l a s s i c a l landscapes and h i s t o r y paintings of eighteenth century E n g l i s h a r t i s t s . R a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t economic, s o c i a l , and p o l i t i c a l circumstances p r e v a i l e d by 1852; with them had come an expanded p u b l i c f o r a r t , which i n c l u d e d 58 l a r g e numbers of urbanites whose wealth came from i n d u s t r y and commerce. Nevertheless c u l t u r a l conservatives s t i l l clung to the authority of t h i s o l d a r i s t o c r a t i c aesthetic, as evidenced by the Reynoldsian remarks of the Times c r i t i c . This conservative presence was strongly f e l t at the top of the Royal Academy's h i e r a r c h y . C h a r l e s E a s t l a k e , Academy Pr e s i d e n t i n 1852, promoted an a r t based on i d e a l beauty and noble sentiment both i n h i s l e c t u r e s on p a i n t i n g and i n h i s own work. His I p p o l i t a Torel 1 i (Fig. 13, p. I l l ) , exhibited i n 1851, was a most f o r c e f u l exposition of h i s a r i s t o c r a t i c conservatism. The p a i n t i n g d e p i c t e d the wife of C a s t i g l i o n e , that noted c o u r t i e r whose Book of the C o u r t i e r was the d e f i n i t i v e guide to s o c i a l refinement throughout the courts of s i x t e e n t h century Europe. The b e a u t i f u l I p p o l i t a , dressed i n a s a t i n gown, and posed p e n s i v e l y i n a c h a i r decorated with p u t t i , d e l i g h t e d the conservative c r i t i c s . Emphasizing the work's connection to the c l a s s i c a l t r a d i t i o n of the High Renaissance, the A r t J o u r n a l c r i t i c observed t h a t I p p o l i t a \"reminds the spectator of the s y b i l s of the I t a l i a n p a i n t e r s save that the expression i s of a c h a r a c t e r l e s s severe.\"\u00C2\u00AE The Athenaeum c r i t i c concurred: \"[A study] marked by refinement of character, beauty of a high class, and t e n d e r n e s s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 c o n t r o l l e d by d e l i c a t e t a s t e and embodied i n a g r a c e f u l a c t i o n ...\"9 Note that a judgment about the s i t t e r ' s \"refinement of character\" i s immediately followed by a comment on her beauty. The unspoken assumption, grounded in the aesthetics of the c l a s s i c a l t r a d i t i o n , i s that b e a u t i f u l forms bespeak v i r t u o u s i d e a l s . Even though The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd i s about 59 C h r i s t i a n v i r t u e , i t conveys t h i s message through a negative example. This Hogarthian t a c t i c v i o l a t e d the academic norms of mid-nineteenth century picture making. 1 0 The c r i t i c at the Art J o u r n a l put the case q u i t e c l e a r l y i n h i s 1852 review of a work by Ford Madox Brown: \"It i s not the o f f i c e of Art to present to us t r u t h s of an o f f e n s i v e kind; these are abundant i n every-day l i f e , and i t i s i n Art that we seek refuge from them. 1 , 1 1 Although a e s t h e t i c c o n s e r v a t i v e s at the A r t J o u r n a l and elsewhere found Hunt's r u s t i c landscape offensive, the work did have i t s advocates \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i.e., a s p e c i f i c p u b l i c which was a t t r a c t e d to i t p r i m a r i l y because of i t s h i g h l y d e t a i l e d realism. In order to understand why the painting enjoyed t h i s l i m i t e d success i t i s necessary to determine f i r s t the c o n s t i t u e n c y of t h i s p u b l i c . Since c r i t i c a l attention centered on i t s h i g h l y unconventional treatment of the p r i n c i p a l figures, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd did not co n s i s t e n t l y generate reviews which s p e c i f i c a l l y addressed the issue of i t s p a r t i c u l a r i z e d rendering of natural d e t a i l s ( r e c a l l t h a t Fraser' s was s i l e n t and Punch, A r t Journa1 and I^ N. published only abbreviated comments). However, a wide range of c r i t i c s d i d d i s c u s s Pre-Raphaelite d e t a i l i n g as i t appeared i n M i l l a i s ' two works i n the e x h i b i t , Ophe1ia and A Huguenot. Before analyzing further the reception of The Hire l i n g Shepherd, t h e r e f o r e , the c r i t i c a l response to the d e t a i l i n g i n M i l l a i s ' works w i l l be considered. In t h i s way a c l e a r e r notion of the public for t h i s kind of painting w i l l emerge. A Huguenot on St. Bartholomew's Day, Refusing to S h i e I d Himself from Danger by Wearing the Roman C a t h o l i c Badge was perhaps the most admired painting exhibited at the Royal Academy 60 i n 1852. The reviews i t r e c e i v e d were almost unanimously favorable, and i t drew large crowds during the exhibition. ^ The subject was drawn from the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a bloody i n c i d e n t from the French Huguenot c o n f l i c t s of the mid-s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y . 1 3 The t i t l e e x p l a i n s the scene's n a r r a t i v e action: The pro-Catholic Due de Guise has ordered a l l Catholics to wear a white armband to proclaim t h e i r f a i t h and protect them from being executed as Pr o t e s t a n t h e r e t i c s (Huguenots). The young C a t h o l i c woman attempts to t i e her white handkerchief around the arm of her Huguenot l o v e r i n order to save h i s l i f e . He nobly rejects her e f f o r t s , embracing her, while removing the Catholic token from her grasp. M i l l a i s confined h i s l o v e r s to a narrow space against an ivy-covered brick w a l l . Each brick, i v y leaf, and outgrowth of moss i s rendered i n d i v i d u a l l y and with s t u d i e d accuracy. This c l o s e a t t e n t i o n to d e t a i l extends to the treatment of the foreground flowers, which r e c a l l the b o t a n i c a l l y accurate plants i n front of Hunt's shepherd and shepherdess. The analogy between the two paintings ends there, however. M i l l a i s ' two lovers are dep i c t e d q u i t e d i f f e r e n t l y than Hunt's l u s t y p a i r . Choosing handsome models, M i l l a i s generalized and softened t h e i r hair and f a c i a l features, as w e l l as t h e i r garments, which hang i n heavy, g e n t l e f o l d s . The f i n e forms of the f i g u r e s are accentuated by the a r t i s t ' s h a n d l i n g of l i g h t and c o l o r . A h a l l m a r k of Pre-Raphaelite painting up to t h i s time was the use of strong colors and b r i g h t , even l i g h t i n g . In A Huguenot, however, the c o l o r s are much lower i n key, with the dark, r i c h c l o t h i n g p r o v i d i n g a 61 strong contrast to the f l e s h tones of the faces and hands, and to the s o f t red of the w a l l . Likewise, even l i g h t i n g has been abandoned i n favor of a more conventional use of deep shadows (in the i v y ) which form a dramatic backdrop f o r the woman's p a l e face. Through h i s use of hi g h l i g h t s , shadow, and color contrasts M i l l a i s has focused h i s scene on the e x p r e s s i v e faces of h i s handsome lovers. Those elements which exhibit minute d e t a i l i n g - -the w a l l , i v y , and foreground f l o w e r s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 h a v e been darkened and pushed to the periphery of the scene. By c o n t r a s t M i l l a i s ' second p r o d u c t i o n f o r the 1852 e x h i b i t i o n was a work i n which a p l e t h o r a of l u s h b o t a n i c a l d e t a i l seems n e a r l y to overwhelm the p i c t u r e ' s o s t e n s i b l e subject, the drowning Ophelia. The top h a l f of the canvas i s f i l l e d with a va r i e t y of green plants and a dogwood whose pink flowers explode into the center of the composition, compressing even f u r t h e r the l i m i t e d space a l l o t t e d the f i g u r e . This b o t a n i c a l d i s p l a y i s echoed i n the g i r l ' s dress which, strewn with p e a r l s , f l o r a l designs and a c t u a l flowers, seems more a feat u r e of the landscape than an a r t i c l e of c l o t h i n g . As i n A Huguenot M i l l a i s has highlighted the face of h i s Shakespearean heroine, framing i t with the dark water of the pool i n which she l i e s . Ophelia's f e a t u r e s are l e s s r e f i n e d than those of the Huguenot's fiancee, yet both faces are pale and convey pathos and h e l p l e s s n e s s ( i n sharp c o n t r a s t to Hunt's shepherdess who i s neither pale nor pathetic). Although i t s colors are more subdued that those i n Hunt's painting, Ophelia i s a far brighter and more luminous work than A Huguenot. Here then are three works by Hunt and M i l l a i s which p l a c e 62 one or two f i g u r e s outdoors and u t i l i z e i n d i f f e r e n t ways b o t a n i c a l l y d e t a i l e d s e t t i n g s . The c r i t i c a l r e a c t i o n to the p a i n t i n g s v a r i e d g r e a t l y : A Huguenot was w i d e l y p r a i s e d , Ophelia's r e c e p t i o n was mixed, and The H i r e 1ing Shepherd was r e v i l e d or ignored by a l l except Rossetti and Masson. 1 4 Despite these variat i o n s i n composition and i n general response, c r i t i c a l r e a c t i o n to the i s s u e of Pre-Raphaelite r e a l i s m was remarkably c o n s i s t e n t among the three p a i n t i n g s . For example the A r t J o u r n a l c r i t i c l i k e d A Huguenot, but f e l t that the d e t a i l e d background p r e v e n t e d the f i g u r e s from a p p e a r i n g t h r e e -dimensional . 1 ^ The same reviewer complained of the a r t i s t ' s \u00E2\u0080\u00A2I (L \"vegetable anomalies\" i n h i s l e s s favorable review of Ophelia. Likewise, the c r i t i c for the Athenaeum, who overreached himself i n h i s e f f u s i v e d e s c r i p t i o n of the Huguenot's l o v e r , began h i s c r i t i q u e with a s e r i e s of dry comments on the r e a l i t y of the wal 1. He went on to p o i n t out g l e e f u l l y that i n both of M i l l a i s 1 paintings flowers were shown blooming out of season.^ This pattern of reaction was repeated i n less conservative and i n t e l l e c t u a l l y prestigious publications, such as Punch and the I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News. Tom Taylor, the Punch c r i t i c , waxed rhapsodic i n d e s c r i b i n g the b e a u t i f u l heroines of M i l l a i s ' two pictures, but seemed uncomfortable with t h e i r natural settings. In an imaginary conversation with an a r t i s t Taylor declared: T a l k as you like...about the needless e l a b o r a t i o n of those water-mosses, and the over making-out of the rose-leaves and the abominable f i n i s h of those r i v e r - s i d e weeds matted with gossamer which the f i e l d botanist may i d e n t i f y l e a f by leaf. I t e l l you, I am aware of none of these. I see o n l y the face of poor drowning Ophelia. 63 The c r i t i c at the N^ was even more b l u n t . A f t e r p r o c l a i m i n g the expression of the woman i n A Huguenot as a \"masterpiece of study and execution,\" he went on to speak of the flowers and the w a l l as being \"elaborated with a painstaking and r e a l n e s s which are among the l i t t l e t riumphs of the new s c h o o l . \" 1 9 The s i t u a t i o n s h i f t s dramatically when more p o l i t i c a l l y and c u l t u r a l l y l i b e r a l p e r i o d i c a l s are considered. R o s s e t t i ' s reviews of the three works were, as i s to be expected, extremely p o s i t i v e . Although he d w elled on the e x p r e s s i v e f i g u r e s i n A Huguenot, he went on to remark that the w a l l and nasturtiums 9 0 d i s p l a y e d a f i d e l i t y never even aimed at i n such subjects.\" His account of the b o t a n i c a l s e t t i n g i n Ophe1ia was h i g h l y d e t a i l e d and f u l l of praise. The reviews of M i l l a i s ' two works in the l i b e r a l Fraser's followed Rossetti's assessment c l o s e l y . A h a l f - p a g e d e s c r i p t i o n of Ophe1ia concluded with the judgment that ...there i s a w i l f u l n e s s i n the whole management of the subject. But we f e e l , a l s o , that i t i s the w i l f u l n e s s of t a k i n g Nature as she i s , i n s t e a d of composing her i n t o a p i c t u r e . This f i d e l i t y makes a d i s t i n c t impression of r e a l i t y upon the mind which no cunning t r i c k s of conventional art could have so p e r f e c t l y produced. The w a l l i n M i l l a i s ' other work a l s o received unreserved praise as a demonstration of h i s consumate technical s k i l l . 2 2 i t seems l i k e l y t hat t h i s c r i t i c would have been j u s t as e n t h u s i a s t i c about Hunt's hi g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d landscape, had the lovers been more refined and well-behaved. 64 The most p o l i t i c a l l y l i b e r a l p u b l i c a t i o n of those surveyed i s the non-conformist B r i t i s h Quarterly Review. Masson's review of Ophelia therein i s the mirror image of Taylor's Punch review. Whereas T a y l o r l o v e d the f i g u r e and b a r e l y t o l e r a t e d the a n c i l l a r y d e t a i l , Masson d i s l i k e d both the pose and the features of the figure, but declared the painting \"wonderful\" on the basis of the natural setting. This, he declared, was elaborated with a minuteness unknown i n any pr e v i o u s treatment of the subject. His p r a i s e f o r A Huguenot was l e s s q u a l i f i e d , but he noted at the outset that the subject was \" l e s s ambitious and genuine\" than that of O p h e l i a . ^ Perhaps Masson, alone of a l l the c r i t i c s , sensed that the former was s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y contrived to win the approval of a sentimental and strongly a n t i - C a t h o l i c p u b l i c (see p. 71, n. 14). After considering these several responses to Pre-Raphaelite r e a l i s m , the p a t t e r n which emerges i s q u i t e unmistakable: c r i t i c s writing i n conservative and c e n t r i s t p e r i o d i c a l s tended t o d i s l i k e the P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s 1 d e p a r t u r e from academic conventions, whereas writers i n more l i b e r a l publications were e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y s u p p o r t i v e of t h i s h i g h l y p a r t i c u l a r i z e d r e a l i s m . This p a t t e r n i s most c l e a r l y seen i n the general response to Ophelia i n which botanical d e t a i l can almost be said to c o n s t i t u t e the subject. I n v a r i a b l y c o n s e r v a t i v e j o u r n a l s p u b l i s h e d u n f a v o r a b l e reviews. The c e n t r i s t Punch and 1^ s p l i t i n t h e i r o v e r a l l r e a c t i o n to the work, but n e i t h e r were drawn to i t s botanical elaborations. The more l i b e r a l journals were a l l favorably disposed to the painting, praising those very d e t a i l s which the others condemned. I t was among these same 65 l i b e r a l journals and the pu b l i c they represented that Hunt would find h i s strongest support. The two most f a v o r a b l e reviews of The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd h a i l e d i t f o r i t s v i v i d r e a l i s m i n lengthy passages which r e c r e a t e i n p r i n t Hunt's p a r t i c u l a r i z e d view of the E n g l i s h countryside. The a c t i o n of each of t h e s e s h e e p \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a l l d i s t i n c t and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c \u00E2\u0080\u0094 h a s been watched and p e r f e c t l y understood. In the countryside i n which the incident takes place--from the marsh-mallows, elecampane p l a n t , and t h i c k l y t a n g l e d grass of the foreground, to the August c o r n - f i e l d and p o l l a r d willows, and above a l l the elms and bean-stacks of the distance, there i s a f e e l i n g of the c o u n t r y \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i t s sunny shadow-varied openness\u00E2\u0080\u0094such as we do not remember to have seen ever before so completely expressed; a r e a l i t y which makes the d i s t a n c e beyond the h o r i z o n as c o n c e i v a b l e and actual as i n na t u r e . 2 5 These observations by Rossetti were echoed by Masson: ...on the whole, the p i c t u r e i s a piece of broad r u r a l r e a l i t y , with none of the fant a s t i c circumstances implied i n the l i n e s quoted above [ i . e. the gloss from King Lear], and with no attempt to bring out the s c r i p t u r a l a l l u s i o n , i f i t e x i s t s , by d e v i a t i n g from what i s E n g l i s h and modern...the p i c t u r e i s , i n a l l r e s p e c t s , one of the b e s t i n the exhibition. Such corn, such sheep, such meadows, such rows of t r e e s , and such c o o l grass and w i l d flowers to s i t amidst are not to be found i n any painting that we know. Even h o s t i l e c r i t i c s found themselves categorizing the d e t a i l s of Hunt's landscape: Downright l i t e r a l truth i s followed out i n every accessory; each sedge, moss, and weed\u00E2\u0080\u0094each crop, beans or c o r n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i s f a i t h f u l l y imitated. Summer heat pervades the atmosphere,\u00E2\u0080\u0094 the g r a i n i s r i p e , - - t h e s w i f t s skim about,\u00E2\u0080\u0094and the p u r p l e clouds cast purple shadows.2 66 The Athenaeum c r i t i c thoroughly disapproved of the painting and yet he seemed as obsessed with i t s c a r e f u l l y reproduced f l o r a and fauna as Masson and Rossetti were. What was the source of thi s fascination? F. G. Stephens was the f i r s t writer to answer t h i s question i n terms which addressed The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd s p e c i f i c a l l y . In a passage from a book about Hunt published i n 1860 he discussed the a r t i s t ' s a b i l i t y to see a landscape with the eyes of a s c i e n t i s t . [In The Hire 1ing Shepherd] i s embodied a genuine thought, i n f l o w i n g and intense c o l o u r s , v i c t o r i o u s rendering of na t u r e i n e v e r y d e t a i l , s o l i d and manly e x e c u t i o n u n f l i n c h i n g l y c a r r i e d out, with the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of s u n l i g h t e f f e c t , which was an e n t i r e l y new t h i n g i n a r t . For the p a i n t e r f i r s t put i n t o p r a c t i c e , i n an h i s t o r i c a l p i c t u r e , based upon h i s own o b s e r v a t i o n , the s c i e n t i f i c e l u c i d a t i o n of that p a r t i c u l a r e f f e c t which having been h i n t e d at by Leonardo da V i n c i , i n one of h i s wonderful world-guesses, was p a r t l y e x p l a i n e d by Newton, and f u l l y developed by Davy and Brewster. He was absolutely the f i r s t figure-painter who gave the true colour to sun-shadows, made them partake of the t i n t of the obj e c t on which they were cast, and deepened such shadows to pure blue where he found them t o be so, p a i n t e d t r e e s l i k e t r e e s , and f a r - o f f hedgerows standing c l e a r l y i n pure summer a i r . Stephens placed Hunt i n i l l u s t r i o u s company, indeed. Armed with the s c i e n t i f i c theory developed by Leonardo, Newton, Brewster, and Davy, Hunt was a b l e to produce a landscape unequaled i n i t s c l o s e l y observed s c i e n t i f i c accuracy. This connection between Pre-Raphaelite realism and science was f r e q u e n t l y made i n the e a r l y 1850's. Ruskin, i t should be r e c a l l e d , p r a i s e d the b o t a n i c a l accuracy of the flowers i n Convent Thoughts (p. 11) and T a y l o r suggested that the f l o r a l s e t t i n g f o r Ophe 1 i a would stand up to an i n s p e c t i o n by a f i e l d 67 botanist (p. 63). The Athenaeum c r i t i c began his 1852 review of the R. A. E x h i b i t i o n by r e f e r r i n g to the Pre-Raphaelites as \"paleontologists i n a r t . \" 2 9 He went on to c r i t i c i z e the new art i n a t i r a d e which i n g e n i o u s l y attempted to t i e i t s s c i e n t i f i c tendencies to medieval regressiveness: ...in the close but misdirected observance and imitation of e v e r y t h i n g , and i n a n e g l e c t of s e l e c t i o n , the r e l a t i v e v a l u e of form and c o l o u r may be l o s t s i g h t of, u n t i l the s u r f e i t e d eye sickens at an atomic a n a l y s i s which demands the microscope to examine and the l e i s u r e of monastic illuminators to execute i t . u Hunt and h i s supporters were not drawn to t h i s mode of p a i n t i n g because i t appeared r e t r o g r e s s i v e . On the contrary, they stressed that s c i e n t i f i c d e lineation was necessary i n order to keep art i n step with the modern advances of the times. Thus Hunt, when asked by an Oxford don i n 1852 to explain the guiding p r i n c i p l e of Pre-Raphaelitism, quoted these l i n e s from Tennyson's Golden Year: The f a i r new forms That f l o a t about the threshold of an age Like the truths of science waiting to be caught Crying \"catch me who can,\" and make the catcher crowned 3 1 E a r l i e r i n h i s memoir Hunt revealed less p o e t i c a l l y his inte r e s t i n science: 68 We often trenched on s c i e n t i f i c and h i s t o r i c grounds, for my p r e v i o u s r e a d i n g and c o g i t a t i o n s , w i t h o u t making me profound, had l e d me to l o v e these i n t e r e s t s and to regard them as of the greatest poetic and p i c t o r i a l importance for modern a r t . I argued that the appeal we made c o u l d be s t r e n g t h e n e d by a d o p t i n g the knowledge which human penetration had discovered. 2 Hunt understood that those a r t i s t s who wished to produce a t r u l y modern form of p a i n t i n g would have to be a b l e to understand and u t i l i z e the discoveries and processes of a s c i e n t i f i c age. In 1850 Stephens, w r i t i n g i n the Pre-Raphaelites' s h o r t -l i v e d l i t e r a r y magazine, The Germ, e x p r e s s e d t h i s same conviction: The sciences have become almost exact w i t h i n the present century. Geology and chemistry are almost r e - i n s t i t u t e d . The f i r s t has been n e a r l y created, the second expanded so widely that i t now searches and measures creation. And how has t h i s been done but by b r i n g i n g greater knowledge to bear upon a wider range of experiment; by being precise i n the search a f t e r t r uth? I f t h i s adherence to f a c t , to experiment and not to theory...has added so much to the knowledge of man i n science, why may i t not g r e a t l y a s s i s t the moral purposes of the Arts? S c i e n t i f i c discoveries and empirical methods were being invoked to a s s i s t the \"moral purposes\" of a range of endeavors extending f a r beyond the realm of a r t . Only by s i t u a t i n g The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd i n the context of t h i s wider phenomenon can i t s success with a p o l i t i c a l l y l i b e r a l and s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d p u b lic be understood. 69 NOTES 1. [ W i l l i a m M i c h a e l R o s s e t t i ] , \"The R o y a l Academy Exhibition,\" Spectator, May 15, 1852, p. 472. 2. \"The Royal Academy,\" Art Journal, June 1, 1852, p. 173. 3. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy,\" Times, May 14, 1852, p. 6. 4. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy,\" Times, May 14, 1852, p. 6. 5. Joshua Reynolds, Discourses on A r t [New York: Bobbs M e r r i l l , 1965 (orig. d e l i v e r e d 1770)], pp. 29-30. 6. Ibid., p. 30. 7. For a f u l l d i s c u s s i o n of the f u n c t i o n and meaning of the c l a s s i c a l t r a d i t i o n i n eighteenth century English landscape painting, see David Solkin, Richard W i l s o n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 The Landscape of Reaction (London: Tate G a l l e r y , 1982), e s p e c i a l l y Chapters II and III. 8. \"The Royal Academy,\" A r t J o u r n a l , 3 (1851), p. 155. 9. \"The Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 10, 1851, p. 504. 10. W i l l i a m Hogarth's major p r i n t c y c l e s , Marriage a l a Mode and The Rake's P r o g r e s s , p r e a c h v i r t u e by depicting the downfall of t h e i r immoral protagonists. 11. \"The Royal Academy,\" Art Journal, June 1, 1852, p. 173. The painting i n question was Ford Madox Brown's Jesus Washing Peter's Feet. Brown was never a member of the P. R. B., but was bound to the young a r t i s t s throughout t h i s p e r i o d by mutual respect and a s i m i l a r i t y i n a r t i s t i c goals and methods. 12. [Mary Bennett], Wi11iam Holman Hunt: An E x h i b i t i o n Arranged by the Walker Art G a l l e r y (Liverpool: Walker Ar t G a l l e r y , 1969), p. 33. 13. The parties i n t h i s c o n f l i c t were the Catholic faction l e d by the Due de Guise and the Huguenots, a group of P r o t e s t a n t s who sought both r e l i g i o u s freedom and p o l i t i c a l power. Convinced by h i s mother, Catherine de' M e d i c i , t h a t the Huguenots were p l o t t i n g t o overthrow the government, King Charles IX ordered the death of leading Huguenots i n Paris on August 24, 1572, St. Bartholomew's Day. Mob v i o l e n c e f o l l o w e d i n the c i t y and i n the p r o v i n c e s i n which thousands o f Huguenots were k i l l e d . The i n c i d e n t d epicted by 70 M i l l a i s follows from a scene in Meyerbeer's opera, Les Huguenots, which had been performed with enormous success i n London every season from 1848 to 1852 [Malcolm Warner, \"Notes on M i l l a i s ' Use of Subjects from the Opera, 1851-4,\" Pre-Raphaelite Review, 2:1 (November 1978), p. 73]. 14. I t i s outside the scope of t h i s d i s c u s s i o n to analyze completely the factors a f f e c t i n g the c r i t i c a l reception of A Huguenot and Ophe1ia. Some p o t e n t i a l l y f r u i t f u l l i n e s of i n q u i r y can be suggested, however. B r i e f l y , i t should be noted that both works d e p i c t women who are pathetic, l o v e l y , and i n e f f e c t i v e i n t h e i r attempts to i n f l u e n c e the men they l o v e . This i n f e r i o r view of women was being c h a l l e n g e d i n the e a r l y 1850's by f e m i n i s t s i n E n g l a n d , who were r i d i c u l e d i n the c o n s e r v a t i v e and c e n t r i s t s e c t o r s of the urban press. Thus these two p a i n t i n g s would need to be examined i n the l i g h t o f contemporary a t t i t u d e s toward male authority. Anglo-Catholicism i s a further issue which s p e c i f i c a l l y concerns A Huguenot. M i l l a i s has given h i s p u b l i c a P r o t e s t a n t hero who r i s k s death at the hands of C a t h o l i c oppressors r a t h e r than renouncing h i s f a i t h . Such a subject could not f a i l to be enormously popular at a time of deep h o s t i l i t y to the Roman Church as a r e s u l t of the Pope's r e i n s t i t u t i o n of the Catholic hierarchy i n England. 15. \"The Royal Academy,\" Art Journal, June 1, 1852, p. 173. 16. Ibid., p. 174. 17. \"Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, p. 581. 18. [Tom Taylor], \"''Our C r i t i c ' Among the Pictures,\" Punch, 22 (January-June 1852), p. 216. 19. \"The Royal Academy,\" 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, May 8, 1852, p. 368. 20. Rossetti, p. 471. 21. \"Art and the Royal Academy,\" Fraser's, 46 (August 1852), p. 234. 22. Ibid., p. 235. 23. [David Masson], Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphaelitism, The Germ, and the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n , B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), p. 217. 24. Ibid., p. 218. 25. Rossetti, p. 472. 71 26. Masson, p. 87. 27. \"Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, pp. 581-2. 28. [Frederic G. Stephens], Wi 1 l i a m Holman Hunt and h i s Works (London: J. Nisbet,. 1860), pp. 19-20. S i r Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) was an E n g l i s h chemist who worked p r i m a r i l y i n the f i e l d of electrochemistry. His p u b l i c lectures were enormously popular and gained him a wide reputation. S i r David Brewster (1781-1868) was an eminent s c i e n t i s t who devoted much time to the study of l i g h t and optics. 29. \"Royal Academy,\" Athenaeum, May 22, 1852, p. 581. 30. Ibid. 31. A l f r e d (Lord) Tennyson, \"The Golden Year,\" quoted i n W i l l i a m Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphae1itism and the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, 2 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1905), 1:315. 32. Hunt,1:148. 33. Frederic G. Stephens [John Seward], \"The Purpose and Tendency of E a r l y I t a l i a n A r t , \" The Germ, no. 2 (February 1850), p. 61. 72 CHAPTER IV Pre-Raphaelite Realism and the Ideology of Science Over h a l f a century before Darwin's O r i g i n of Species was published (in 1859) and debated, English geologists, astronomers, pa l e o n t o l o g i s t s , and b i o l o g i s t s had begun to produce convincing evidence that the b i b l i c a l account of the o r i g i n of the earth and i t s l i f e f o r m s was f a l s e . To c i t e but one example, i n the e a r l y 1830's Charles L y e l l published h i s P r i n c i p l e s of Geology i n which he argued that the earth's crust did not assume i t s present form as the r e s u l t of a s i n g l e c a t a c l y s m i c act, but was shaped over an enormous time span by g e o l o g i c a l forces which are s t i l l i n operation. 1 The consequences of t h i s l i n e of inquiry for clergy and l a i t y t r a i n e d to accept the B i b l e as f a c t were deeply alarming. John Ruskin's famous remark to Henry Acland i n 1851 exemplifies the confusion experienced by sincere Christians when confronted with current s c i e n t i f i c discoveries: \" . . . i f only the G e o l o g i s t s would l e a v e me alone, I c o u l d do very w e l l , but those d r e a d f u l hammers! I hear the c l i n k of them at the end of every cadence of the Bi b l e verses.\" 2 Many s c i e n t i s t s hoped that by couching t h e i r discoveries and t h e o r i e s i n terms which d i d not d i r e c t l y t h r e a t e n b i b l i c a l a u t h o r i t y , they c o u l d d i f f u s e attempts by c l e r g y to d i s c r e d i t them. In a l e t t e r to a f e l l o w g e o l o g i s t , G. P. Scrope, L y e l l wrote of the e d i t o r i a l strategies employed i n the production of his P r i n c i p l e s : 73 I f we don't i r r i t a t e , which I fear that we may...we s h a l l c a r r y a l l with us. I f you don't triumph over them, but compliment the l i b e r a l i t y and candour of the present age, the bishops and enlightened saints w i l l j o i n us i n despising both the ancient and modern physico-theologians...If I have said more than some w i l l l i k e [ i n the P r i n c i p l e s ] , yet w i l l I give you my word that f u l l h a l f of my h i s t o r y and comments was cut out, and even many f a c t s ; because e i t h e r I, or Stokes, or Broderip, f e l t that i t was a n t i c i p a t i n g twenty or t h i r t y years of the march of honest f e e l i n g to d e c l a r e i t undisguisedly. 3 C l e a r l y L y e l l sensed the i n e v i t a b l e v i c t o r y of modern science over r e l i g i o n as the f i n a l authority on cosmogonical issues; the immediate concern was how to make the t r a n s i t i o n as comfortable as possible for a l l parties concerned\u00E2\u0080\u0094scientists, clergy, and the general public. W i l l i a m Broderip, whose e d i t o r i a l advice L y e l l sought i n s o f t e n i n g the impact of h i s t r e a t i s e , was a magistrate and n a t u r a l i s t , whose n a t u r a l h i s t o r y a r t i c l e s p u b l i s h e d i n the 1840's and 1850's brought him a f a i r measure of p o p u l a r r e c o g n i t i o n . 4 He p l a c e d h i s vast s h e l l c o l l e c t i o n at L y e l l ' s disposal to aid i n the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of f o s s i l s . 5 S h e l l s were not a l l Broderip c o l l e c t e d , however; he was also interested i n a r t , and i n J u l y 1852 he purchased The Hire 1 ing Shepherd from Hunt for three hundred guineas. The reasons f o r Broderip's a t t r a c t i o n to t h i s work are not hard to fathom. I t s p r e c i s e and accurate d e l i n e a t i o n s of a l l lifeforms, botanical and z o o l o g i c a l (including the moth and the human f i g u r e s ) must have r e c a l l e d to the n a t u r a l i s t h i s own s c i e n t i f i c d e s c r i p t i o n s and o b s e r v a t i o n s . The moral s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h i s c a r e f u l l y d e l i n e a t e d r u r a l landscape was most l i k e l y seen by Broderip as an asset. In order to a l l e v i a t e 74 the t e n s i o n between s c i e n c e and r e l i g i o n , s c i e n t i s t s and th e o l o g i a n s f r e q u e n t l y made use of design arguments which were based on the assumption that s c i e n t i f i c research exposed and explained the uniform and l o g i c a l plan God used i n creating the 7 universe. A t y p i c a l example of how r e l i g i o u s dogma was integrated into s c i e n t i f i c d i s c u s s i o n s i s fu r n i s h e d by Richard Owen, the pre-eminent comparative anatomist of h i s day, i n an 1858 address to the B r i t i s h A s s o c i a t i o n f o r the Advancement of Science. He in s i s t e d that even i f ...both the f a c t and the whole process of the s o - c a l l e d \"spontaneous generation\" of a f r u i t - b e a r i n g t r e e , or of a f i s h , were s c i e n t i f i c a l l y demonstrated, we should s t i l l r e t a i n as s t r o n g l y the idea, which i s the c h i e f of the \"mode\" or \"group of ideas\" we c a l l \"creation,\" v i z . that the process was ordained by and had originated from an a l l - w i s e and powerful F i r s t Cause...\u00C2\u00AE There i s no reason to doubt Owen's r e l i g i o u s s i n c e r i t y ; the fact remains that such a view a l s o promised c e r t a i n b e n e f i t s f o r s c i e n t i s t s . By f i r s t acknowledging God's master p l a n behind n a t u r a l f o r c e s , they c o u l d hope to i n s u l a t e themselves from Q charges of atheism as they proceeded with t h e i r investigations. Owen was Broderip's c l o s e s t f r i e n d and a s s o c i a t e i n the 1850's; through Broderip he met Holman Hunt i n 1852, and professed great admiration for the a r t i s t ' s work. 1 0 In f a s h i o n i n g a p a i n t i n g which was both \"modern\" i n i t s s c i e n t i f i c d e f i n i t i o n of form and \"moral\" i n theme, Hunt used the basic notion underlying design arguments, but from a t h e o l o g i c a l 75 perspective. L i b e r a l clergymen r e a l i z e d that the basic tenets of t h e i r f a i t h would i n e v i t a b l y be dismissed as s u p e r s t i t i o n i f they d i d not i n c o r p o r a t e modern d i s c o v e r i e s about c r e a t i o n and z o o l o g i c a l development i n t o t h e i r theology. P a r a l l e l i n g t h i s process, Hunt c l e a r l y r e a l i z e d that a r t i s t s had to develop new modes of r e p r e s e n t i n g o l d t r u t h s . In h i s autobiography he explained that h i s reason for t r a v e l l i n g to Syria i n the 1850's t o p a i n t s a c r e d s u b j e c t s was \" t h a t more e x a c t t r u t h was d i s t i n c t l y c a l l e d for by the additional knowledge and longings of the modern mind...\"\"'\"\"'\" Masson most e l o q u e n t l y expressed the challenge facing a r t i s t s l i k e Hunt: As astronomy has f e l l e d the o l d physical images to which men attached t h e i r ideas of heaven and h e l l , so i n a thousand other directions has the thought of man f e l l e d the ancient images to which ideas, morally as e v e r l a s t i n g as these, had t h e i r sensible attachment. But, as i t i s the function of the a r t i s t , i f he makes i t an express aim to f o s t e r and impress these ideas at a l l , to do so by symbols that s h a l l have power over the contemporary mind, how can an a r t i s t now f u l f i l t h i s f unction? This i s the great q u e s t i o n \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a question i n the presence of which Pre-Raphaelitism, so far as t h i s aim i s concerned, can appear at best as aspiration, and f a l l s far short of performance.\"1\" Masson saw Pre-Raphaelite realism as an attempt to bridge the gap a r t i s t i c a l l y between science and t r a d i t i o n a l ethics--and t h i s i s an important p o i n t : he was not proposing that a r t i s t s seek to represent a new moral order; r a t h e r they needed to d e f i n e a new vocabulary for expressing the t r a d i t i o n a l values of C h r i s t i a n i t y . T h i s i s q u i t e c l e a r l y the a r t i s t i c dilemma Hunt was a d d r e s s i n g i n h i s modern moral l a n d s c a p e of 1852. By r e p r e s e n t i n g moral c o n f l i c t i n p u r e l y contemporary terms, he 76 emphasized that the f o r c e s of good and e v i l have operated with undiminished i n t e n s i t y throughout h i s t o r y , i n e x a c t l y the same way that L y e l l ' s uniform g e o l o g i c a l f o r c e s have acted. By r e f u s i n g to g e n e r a l i z e and i d e a l i z e h i s subject he gave i t s c i e n t i f i c c r e d i b i l i t y ; the viewer i s presented with concrete, i f unpleasant, evidence for the existence of human immorality. Owen and Broderip were dealing with the reverse problem\u00E2\u0080\u0094the cloaking of t h e i r discoveries about tangible r e a l i t y with enough s p i r i t u a l s i g nificance to render them acceptable. Perhaps they understood that Hunt's purposes and strategies were fundamentally s i m i l a r to t h e i r own. However c o n c i l i a t o r y s c i e n t i s t s , w r i t e r s , and a r t i s t s attempted to be i n moralizing science and modernizing r e l i g i o n , no one doubted that a b i t t e r contest for c u l t u r a l and p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l was o c c u r r i n g between the proponents of science and e c c l e s i a s t i c a l authority. A new i n t e l l e c t u a l e l i t e , i n the form of s c i e n t i f i c laypersons, was s u c c e s s f u l l y c h a l l e n g i n g the A n g l i c a n c l e r g y i n t h e i r r o l e as systematlzers of c u l t u r e . A l l i e d with t h i s new group were the r e a l wielders of economic and p o l i t i c a l power and the d i r e c t b e n e f i c i a r i e s of t e c h n i c a l p r o g r e s s \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e men whom Thomas C a r l y l e termed the \"Captains of Industry. \"^ -^ More than any other i n t e l l e c t u a l of his time C a r l y l e helped to d e f i n e and l e g i t i m i z e the r o l e t h i s c o a l i t i o n , which Frank Turner terms the \" f u n c t i o n a l l i b e r a l e l i t e , \" would p l a y i n English s o c i e t y . 1 5 Like contemporary s c i e n t i s t s such as Thomas Huxley, L y e l l , and many others, C a r l y l e b e l i e v e d that the s o c i a l and economic p o l i c i e s of England should be d i r e c t e d by l e a d e r s whose authority stemmed from t h e i r t a l e n t and knowledge of facts. U n l i k e the more ephemeral q u a l i f i c a t i o n s of the t i t l e d a ristocracy and t h e i r a l l i e s , the Anglican clergy, the s k i l l s of the s c i e n t i f i c / i n d u s t r i a l group were p r a c t i c a l and t h e r e f o r e could be applied to p o s i t i v e tasks, such as badly needed sanitary reform. These pragmatic, knowledgeable le a d e r s , according to C a r l y l e , would be motivated by a s p i r i t u a l i t y which was q u i t e separate from i n s t i t u t i o n a l r e l i g i o u s practices and dogma, which he condemned as insincere and formalistic.-'- 6 This s e c u l a r i z e d s p i r i t u a l i t y was grounded i n moral laws which e s t a b l i s h e d p a t t e r n s of e t h i c a l behavior dependent on a fixed, h i e r a r c h i c a l s o c i a l order. Like so many others, C a r l y l e c o n f l a t e d moral laws with the laws of science and n a t u r e . ^ Ruskin, f o r example, assumed an e q u i v a l e n c e between s o c i a l organization and natural laws when he wrote disparagingly about \"the pursuit of that treacherous phantom which men c a l l Liberty.\" He d e c l a r e d that l i b e r t y does not e x i s t i n the u n i v e r s e : \"The s t a r s have i t not; the earth has i t not; the sea has i t not; and we men have the mockery and semblance of i t o n l y f o r our h e a v i e s t i ft punishment.\" In place of l i b e r t y , Ruskin recommended a law of obedience to moral duty and p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t y ; t h i s 'law' he then d i s c u s s e d i n c o n j u n c t i o n with the Law of G r a v i t a t i o n and other n a t u r a l phenomena i n order to e s t a b l i s h i t s existence i n 19 the natural order. The advantages to s c i e n t i s t s i n s e c u l a r i z i n g s p i r i t u a l i t y and equating s c i e n t i f i c and moral a u t h o r i t y were c l e a r l y p e r c e i v e d by Thomas Huxley i n 1855, when he was i n v o l v e d i n 78 teaching science to the working classes: I want the working c l a s s e s to understand that Science and her way are great f a c t s f o r t h e m \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a t p h y s i c a l v i r t u e i s the base of a l l other, and t h a t they are to be c l e a n and temperate and a l l the r e s t \u00E2\u0080\u0094 n o t because fellows i n black and white t i e s t e l l them so, but because these are p l a i n and p a t e n t 1 aws of n a t u r e , which they must obey 'under p e n a l t i e s . 1 2 0 Huxley's advice i s t o t a l l y compatible with the s o c i a l theories of C a r l y l e . The l a t t e r argued for a leadership based on p r a c t i c a l knowledge; Huxley promoted obedience to the p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t y of t h i s group over the t r a d i t i o n a l r u l i n g e l i t e (the \" f e l l o w s i n b l a c k and white t i e s \" ) by p o i n t i n g out that the sources of i t s expertise, namely, science and the laws of nature, demand that the working c l a s s e s submit to e s t a b l i s h e d s o c i a l norms. This b r i e f i n c u r s i o n i n t o the world of C a r l y l e a n s o c i a l philosophy has been e s s e n t i a l i n order to e s t a b l i s h how science was employed as an i d e o l o g i c a l weapon i n promoting the power of a new f u n c t i o n a l , l i b e r a l e l i t e . Most of those who a c t i v e l y supported Pre-Raphaelitism i n general and who praised The Hire-1ing Shepherd s p e c i f i c a l l y espoused the viewpoints of t h i s p a r t i c u l a r group. B r o d e r i p , f o r example, was not o n l y a p r o g r e s s i v e s c i e n t i s t , but a l s o a magistrate i n v o l v e d i n an evaluation of sewer statutes, thus combining an i n t e r e s t i n pure science with pragmatic s o c i a l reform. Masson was a devoted admirer of C a r l y l e ' s s o c i a l philosophy, as i s c l e a r from h i s extended review of the Latter Day Pamphlets i n the North B r i t i s h Review. 2 1 Like C a r l y l e he eschewed a f u l l y representative system 79 of government i n f a v o r of a more l i m i t e d system d i r e c t e d by i n t e l l e c t u a l s . Masson was much more s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d than the p h i l o s o p h e r , c h a r a c t e r i z i n g the idea of e v o l u t i o n as that \"most splendid of s c i e n t i f i c generalizations\" nine years before Darwin's theory was made p u b l i c . 2 2 Ruskin should be mentioned here, f o r even though he d i d not comment on Hunt's p i c t u r e , he was a vigorous promoter of s c i e n t i f i c a l l y accurate representa-t i o n s of n a t u r e . C a r l y l e ' s w r i t i n g s were c e n t r a l t o the formation of Ruskin's own s o c i a l philosophy. L i k e h i s mentor Ruskin was s e v e r e l y c r i t i c a l of the s o c i a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s and moral l e a d e r s h i p of t r a d i t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s . A l t h o u g h s u s p i c i o u s of i n d u s t r i a l and t e c h n o l o g i c a l \"progress,\" he c o n t i n u a l l y used s c i e n t i f i c a n a l o g i e s i n h i s w r i t i n g s and saw moral and physical laws as manifestations of the same universal o r d e r \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a s has previously been noted. W. M. Rossetti was probably the most p o l i t i c a l l y r a d i c a l of t h i s group (in theory, at le a s t ) . His enthusiasm f o r s c i e n t i f i c progress was coupled with an openly-declared r e l i g i o u s s c e p t i c i s m . 2 3 He admired C a r l y l e and was well-acquainted with at l e a s t h i s Latter Day Pamphlets. 2 4 Hunt himself expressed great admiration for C a r l y l e and h i s w r i t i n g s . In h i s autobiography Hunt r e c o l l e c t e d : \"I had read a l l h i s books t h a t I had been a b l e to buy or borrow, and with a l l the reverence of my nature I had seen the l i v i n g prophet rambling along the s t r e e t s of the neighborhood, bent down, as i t seemed, with the weight of sad wisdom...\"'\" Hunt's esteem f o r C a r l y l e was r e c i p r o c a t e d . The l a t t e r v i s i t e d the a r t i s t ' s s t u d i o i n A p r i l 1852; h i s reaction to The H i r e l i n g Shepherd was recorded 80 i n a l e t t e r to Hunt from Jane C a r l y l e : \"Mr. C a r l y l e says i t i s a r e a l l y grand P i c t u r e l The g r e a t e s t P i c t u r e that he has seen painted by any modern man!\"26 The reasons for Carlyle's enthusiasm are unrecorded but not i m p o s s i b l e to d i v i n e . The p a i n t i n g i s a v i s u a l expression of many of his ideas and those expounded by the s c i e n t i s t s and other i n t e l l e c t u a l s j u s t described. In producing a p a i n t i n g about p a s t o r a l n e g l e c t , Hunt o f f e r e d a c r i t i q u e of the A n g l i c a n clergy, the self-appointed moral guardians of the lower classes. Such a c r i t i q u e would be w e l l - r e c e i v e d by C a r l y l e and other i n t e l l e c t u a l s who were i n t e r e s t e d i n t r a n s f e r r i n g t h i s guardianship to a group of pragmatists devoted to i n d u s t r y and science. Enhancing i t s appeal to t h i s group, the p a i n t i n g i s devoid of symbols associated with r e l i g i o u s i n s t i t u t i o n s ; instead moral meaning i s conveyed through the natural d e t a i l s of a purely secular scene of modern r u r a l l i f e . This approach was favored by C a r l y l e , who b e l i e v e d s t r o n g l y i n emphasizing the s p i r i t u a l element i n the mundane occurrences of contemporary l i f e . 2 ' By d e p i c t i n g t h i s r u r a l i n c i d e n t with the p r e c i s i o n of a s c i e n t i f i c i l l u s t r a t o r , the a r t i s t o f f e r s the viewer concrete proof of the r e a l i t y of immoral actions. The implication i s that s c i e n t i f i c a l l y observed and recorded f a c t s are s u p e r i o r to b e a u t i f u l l y generalized fantasies as v e h i c l e s for conveying moral t r u t h s . A l l of the w r i t e r s who recorded t h e i r a p p r o v a l of The H jLr _1 i. ng Shepherd e x p r e s s e d e x p l i c i t agreement w i t h t h i s judgment. The emphasis on c a r e f u l o b s e r v a t i o n accords with the fundamental assumptions which underlie the s c i e n t i f i c method: In order to understand a phenomenon, i t f i r s t must be observed and 81 c a r e f u l l y described. The next step i n the process i s a n a l y s i s , a f t e r which c o n t r o l and m a n i p u l a t i o n of the s u b j e c t i s possible. 2\u00C2\u00AE Although t h i s system of analysis was developed as a t o o l for physical s c i e n t i s t s , i t was appropriated for use i n the formation of s o c i a l p o l i c y as w e l l . In her well-known a r t i c l e on the German peasantry (Westminster Review, 1856) George E l i o t promoted s c i e n t i f i c study as a f i r s t step i n a program of reform targeting the lower classes: I f any man of s u f f i c i e n t moral and i n t e l l e c t u a l breadth, whose o b s e r v a t i o n s would not be v i t i a t e d by a foregone conelusion...wouId devote h i m s e l f to studying the n a t u r a l h i s t o r y of our s o c i a l c l a s s e s , e s p e c i a l l y of the s m a l l shopkeepers, artisans, and peasantry,--the degree i n which they are i n f l u e n c e d by l o c a l c o n d i t i o n s , t h e i r maxims and habits...the i n t e r a c t i o n of the v a r i o u s c l a s s e s on each other, and what are the tendencies i n t h e i r p o s i t i o n towards d i s i n t e g r a t i o n or towards development,--and i f , a f t e r a l l t h i s study, he would give us the r e s u l t of h i s observations i n a book w e l l nourished with s p e c i f i c facts, his work would be a valuable aid to the s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l reformer. In t h i s view the working c l a s s e s are t o be s t u d i e d l i k e z o o l o g i c a l specimens so that s o c i a l reformers can understand them and thus provide for t h e i r welfare and management. E l i o t ' s s o c i a l p o l i c i e s , along with those of like-minded reformers, were motivated by a genuine concern f o r those s u f f e r i n g from economic hardship. C l o s e l y a l l i e d with these humanitarian feelings, however, was the r e a l i z a t i o n that healthy, happy l a b o r e r s work harder, produce more, and are much l e s s i n c l i n e d to foment unrest. For example, i n 1850 Dr. John Simon prepared a medical r e p o r t f o r the C i t y of London on the subject 82 of sanitation. In arguing for technical improvements he warned: ...you cannot but see that s i d e by side with p e s t i l e n c e there s t a l k s a d e a d l i e r presence; b l i g h t i n g the moral exi s t e n c e of a r i s i n g p o p u l a t i o n ; rendering t h e i r hearts h o p e l e s s , t h e i r a c t s r u f f i a n l y and i n c e s t u o u s ; and scattering, while society averts her eyes, the r e t r i b u t i v e seeds of increase for crime, turbulence, and pauperism. 3 0 Technical progress i n the f i e l d of sanitation was necessary not only for the suffering poor, but also for the more p r i v i l e g e d , i f they wished to a v o i d i n c r e a s e d crime, poor r a t e s , and s o c i a l unrest. This argument was c o n s t a n t l y being made i n the urban press throughout the l a t e 1840's and 1850's. E l i o t made i t c l e a r that s u c c e s s f u l s o c i a l reform demands accurate i n f o r m a t i o n about the behavior and c o n d i t i o n s of the working classes. I d e a l i z a t i o n and generalization preclude the accumulation of the type of data needed for analysis and further a c t i o n . In l i g h t of t h i s b e l i e f i t i s r e v e a l i n g that E l i o t was the o n l y viewer on record to f i n d t hat Hunt's shepherd and shepherdess were too i d e a l i z e d : Even one of the g r e a t e s t p a i n t e r s of the pre-eminently r e a l i s t i c s c h o o l , w h i l e i n h i s p i c t u r e of The H i r e 1ing S_h e_p_h e r_d, he g ave us a l a n d s c a p e o f m a r v e l l o u s t r u t h f u l n e s s , p l a c e d a p a i r of peasants i n the foreground who were not much more r e a l than the i d y l l i c swains and damsels of our chimney ornaments. Hunt's image of h e a l t h y , happy, g a i l y - d r e s s e d i d l e r s must have con t r a s t e d s h a r p l y with the p o o r l y nourished, over-worked, and s h a b b i l y - d r e s s e d a g r a r i a n l a b o r e r s whom E l i o t had observed t o i l i n g i n the r e a l E n g l i s h countryside. This discrepancy was 83 not noted by other c r i t i c s , f r i e n d l y or h o s t i l e ; they found, to the contrary, that Hunt's figures were \" l i t e r a l t r a n s c r i p t s \" of r u r a l laborers ( p. 31). The readiness with which t h i s image was a c c e p t e d as l i t e r a l l y t r u e t e s t i f i e s t o the power and persuasiveness of Pre-Raphaelite realism. The bright color and minute elaboration of the forms i n The Hire l i n g Shepherd convey a convincing sense of physical presence; t h i s i l l u s i o n of r e a l i t y i s r e i n f o r c e d by the i n c l u s i o n of s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - r e n d e r e d botanical d e t a i l s . Since the flowers, sheep, insects, and trees are accurately reproduced, the viewer i s persuaded to accept the f i d e l i t y of the shepherd and shepherdess as w e l l . Unlike E l i o t , admirers of t h i s p a i n t i n g d i d not demand that a work of a r t serve as a repository of empirical data for s o c i a l reformers. They did argue fo r p a i n t i n g s which mediated t h e i r general b e l i e f i n the moral and s o c i a l value of s c i e n t i f i c observation and analysis. Modern s c e p t i c s might o b j e c t t h a t Hunt's a c u t e l y d e t a i l e d r e a l i s m c o u l d not p o s s i b l y have been seen by contemporaries as the m a n i f e s t a t i o n of a s p e c i f i c a t t i t u d e toward science and s o c i a l change. However, a writer for the I r i s h Quarterly Review made just such a connection. He praised Pre-Raphaelite realism as a necessary advance, commensurate with other forms of human progress: Science and l i t e r a t u r e have advanced; the ap p l i a n c e s of c i v i l i s a t i o n and refinement, manufactures, commerce, theory of government, and s a n i t a r y r e g u l a t i o n s , a l l have made astonishing progress i n the l a s t four centuries. Art ought to be no exception... 3 2 84 The s c i e n t i s t s and other i n t e l l e c t u a l s who responded favorably to The H i r e l i n g Shepherd would have agreed with t h i s assessment of the proper r o l e of a r t i n modern i n d u s t r i a l England. For them Hunt's r u s t i c landscape represented a \" v i c t o r i o u s rendering of nature i n every d e t a i l \" ( p. 67). As such i t confirmed t h e i r b e l i e f that s o c i a l and moral progress must be predicated upon an understanding of external r e a l i t y which i s grounded i n empirical observation. 85 NOTES 1. Charles L y e l l , P r i n c i p l e s of Geology, 3 v o l s . (London: John Murray, 1830-33). For a l u c i d a n a l y s i s of the P r i n c i p l e s and i t s impact on l i t e r a t u r e , see Susan G l i s e r m a n , \" E a r l y V i c t o r i a n S c i e n c e W r i t e r s and Tennyson's \" i n Memoriam': A Study i n C u l t u r a l Exchange, Part I,\" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 18 (March 1975), pp. 277-308 (Part I I , June 1975, pp. 437-50). 2. John Ruskin to Henry Acland, 1852, i n John Ruskin, The Works of John Ruskin, 39 v o l s . , eds. E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn (London: George A l l e n , 1903-12), 36:115. 3. C h a r l e s L y e l l to George P o u l e t t Scrope, 1830, i n Charl e s L y e l l , L i f e , L e t t e r s and Journa1s, 2 v o l s . (London: John Murray, 1881), 1:270. 4. B r o d e r i p ' s Z o o l o g i c a l Re ere at on s_ (1852) were s u f f i c i e n t l y well-known to rate a g e n t l e parody and cartoon i n Punch [23 (July-December 1852), p. 85]. 5. L y e l l , L i f e , 1:313. L y e l l expressed h i s appreciation by dedicating Volume II of the P r i n c i p l e s to Broderip ( i b i d . , 1:355). 6. In 1830 Broderip and G. B. Sowerby co-authored Species Conchy1iorum (London: G. B. Sowerby), i n which they wrote d e t a i l e d descriptions of various types of s h e l l s . The s c i e n t i f i c i l l u s t r a t i o n s which accompanied the text shared many s i m i l a r i t i e s with Hunt's landscape: lack of chiaroscuro, bright colors, hard-edge d e t a i l i n g , and a r e f u s a l to i d e a l i z e . With regard to t h i s l a t t e r q u a l i t y , the s h e l l i l l u s t r a t i o n s , l i k e Hunt's painting, were h i g h l y s p e c i f i c , r e c o r d i n g i n d i v i d u a l imperfec-t i o n s along with other c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . L a t e r i n the century Edmund Gosse, son of the prominent n a t u r a l i s t , P h i l i p Gosse, remarked on the s i m i l a r i t y between Hunt's paintings and s c i e n t i f i c i l l u s t r a t i o n s . In describing Hunt's The Finding of the Saviour i n the Temple (1854-60) he wrote: \"This l a r g e , b r i g h t , comprehensive p i c -t ure made a very deep impression upon me, not e x a c t l y as a work of a r t , but as a b r i l l i a n t n a t u r a l specimen\" [Edmund Gosse, F a t h e r and S o n z_ B i o g r a p h i c a 1 Recollections (New York: Charles Scribners, 1908), p. 257T 7. The c l a s s i c work on design arguments and n a t u r a l t heology remains Charles C. G i l l i s p i e , Genesis and Geology (Cambridge: Harvard Univ e r s i t y Press, 1951). Updating t h i s t e x t i s an e x c e l l e n t a r t i c l e by John H. Brooke, \"The Natural Theology of the Geologists: Some 86 Theological Strata,\" i n Images of the Earth, eds. L. J. J o r d a n o v a and Roy S. P o r t e r ( C h a l f o n t St. G i l e s : B r i t i s h Society for the History of Science, 1979), pp. 39-64. Richard Owen quoted i n Brooke, p. 57, n. 15. Brooke, p. 47. W i l l i a m Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphae1itism and the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, 2 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1905), 1:322. Ibid., 1:150. [David Masson], Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphae1 i t i s m , The Germ, and the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n , B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), p. 210. Frank Turner, \" R a i n f a l l , Plagues, and the Prince of Wales: A Chapter i n the C o n f l i c t of R e l i g i o n and Science,\" Journa1 of B r i t i s h Studies, 13 (1974), p. 52 . \"In a l l European countries, e s p e c i a l l y i n England, one c l a s s of Captains and commanders of men, recognizable as the beginning of a new r e a l and not imaginary \" A r i s t o c r a c y , 1 has a l r e a d y i n some measure developed i t s e l f : the Captains of Industry;\u00E2\u0080\u0094happily the c l a s s who above a l l , or at l e a s t f i r s t of a l l , are wanted i n t h i s time\" {Thomas C a r l y l e , Latter-Day Pamphlets [London: Chapman and H a l l , 1901 ( o r i g . pub. 1850)], p. 30}. Turner's p e r c e p t i v e a n a l y s i s of C a r l y l e ' s impact on s c i e n t i f i c ideology forms the basis for the following d i s c u s s i o n . See Frank Turner, \" V i c t o r i a n S c i e n t i f i c Naturalism and Thomas C a r l y l e , \" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 18 (March 1975), pp. 325-43. Thomas C a r l y l e , Heroes and Hero Worship (1841), quoted i n Turner, \"V i c t o r i a n Naturalism,\" p. 335. Thomas C a r l y l e , Past and Present (1843), quoted i n Turner, \" V i c t o r i a n Naturalism,\" p. 341. John Ruskin, Seven Lamps of A r c h i t e c t u r e ( o r i g . pub. 1849), i n Ruskin, Works, 8:248-9. Ibid., 8:250-1. Thomas Huxley to F r e d e r i c k Dyster, February 27, 1855, i n Leonard Huxley, L i f e and L e t t e r s of Thomas Henry Huxley, 2 v o l s . (London: Macmillan, 1900), 1:138. 87 21. David Masson, \"Latter-Day Pamphlets\" (review), North B r i t i s h Review, 14 (November 1850), pp. 1-22. 22. Ibid., p. 19. 23. Odette Bornand, I n t r o d u c t i o n to The Diary of Wi11iam Michael Rossetti by Will i a m Michael Rossetti T o x f o r d : Clarendon Press, 1977), p. x v i . 24. W i l l i a m Michael R o s s e t t i , The P^ R^ B^ Journa 1, ed. Willi a m Fredeman (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), p. 96. 25. Hunt, 1:352. 26. Jane C a r l y l e to W i l l i a m Holman Hunt, A p r i l 1852, i n Hunt, 1:354. 27. Sussman, p. 21. 28. In 1887 Huxley began a d e s c r i p t i o n of the s c i e n t i f i c method i n t h i s way: \"The development of every branch of physical knowledge presents three stages, which i n t h e i r l o g i c a l r e l a t i o n are s u c c e s s i v e . The f i r s t i s the determination of the sensible character and order of the phenomena. This i s N a t u r a l H i s t o r y i n the o r i g i n a l sense of the term, and here nothing but o b s e r v a t i o n and experiment a v a i l us\" [Thomas Huxley, Methods and R e s u l t s (New York: Appleton, 1902), p^ 64]. 29. [George E l i o t ] , \"The N a t u r a l H i s t o r y of German L i f e , \" Westminster Review, 66 ( J u l y 1856), p. 56. E l i o t ' s s o c i a l and a r t i s t i c outlook was s i m i l a r i n many ways to those of Masson, R o s s e t t i , Ruskin, C a r l y l e , and Hunt. See John Murdoch, \"English Realism: George E l i o t and the Pre-Raphaelites,\" J o u r n a l of the Warburg and Cou r t a u l d I n s t i t u t e s , 37 (1974), pp. 313-29, and a l s o Hugh Witemeyer, George E 1 i o t and the V i s u a l A r t s (New Haven: Yale U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1979). 30. John Simon, C i t y of London Medical Reports, #2 (1850), quoted i n Human Documents of the V i c t o r i a n Golden Age (1850-1875), ed. E. Royston Pike (London: George A l l e n and Unwin, 1967), p. 278. 31. E l i o t , p. 52. 32. \" P r e - R a p h a e l i t i s m , \" I r i s h Q u a r t e r l y Review, 1:4 (December 1851), p. 741. 88 CONCLUSION The production, e x h i b i t i o n and r e c e p t i o n of The H i r e 1ing Shepherd i n v o l v e d Hunt and h i s p u b l i c i n a d i a l o g u e about very b a s i c , yet complex, a r t i s t i c i s s u e s : what the proper s u b j e c t should be f o r a work intended to have e l e v a t e d moral s i g n i f i -cance, and i n what manner that subject should be represented. Hunt's audac i o u s answer t o t h e s e q u e s t i o n s p o l a r i z e d h i s audience. He selected a seemingly innocuous subject, r u s t i c s i n a landscape, as the v e h i c l e for an object lesson about the nature of a t r u l y moral and modern form of painting. The work v i o l a t e d the academic norms of r u r a l landscape painting i n several ways. F i r s t , r u r a l scenes were not supposed to be moral sermons which attacked the behavior of e c c l e s i a s t i c a l a u t h o r i t i e s . , In f a c t such landscapes were expected to have no higher symbolic meaning at a l l . E l e v a t e d themes were to be attached o n l y to higher forms of a r t such as h i s t o r y p a i n t i n g and o v e r t l y r e l i g i o u s a r t . As was i n d i c a t e d i n Chapter I I I , t h i s legacy of eighteenth-century academic t r a d i t i o n had passed into mid-nineteenth-century art r e l a t i v e l y unchallenged and unaltered. Next, r u r a l landscapes were expected to affirm the v i s i o n of the c o u n t r y s i d e adopted by the urban p o p u l a t i o n . Chapter I I described how a l l classes of urban society had a vested interest i n promoting a p o s i t i v e view of the country i n which peace, prosperity, and v i r t u e reigned, uncontaminated by the problems of the c i t y . It was p a r t i c u l a r l y e s s e n t i a l to maintain this image i n the e a r l y 1850's, which saw the end of a p e r i o d of a g r i c u l -t u r a l depression, r u r a l unrest, and t e n s i o n between urban and 89 r u r a l interests over the importation of foreign grain. Rejecting t h i s normative v i s i o n , Hunt asked h i s viewers to read a message of moral s i g n i f i c a n c e and c r i t i c a l i n t e n t i n a l o w l y genre painting which negated the p r e v a i l i n g image about the nature of r u r a l l i f e . Stated more simply, the a r t i s t challenged h i s public to reevaluate the function and meaning of the sing l e most popular form of English painting at the time--the r u r a l landscape. It i s not surprising, then, that few rose to the challenge. Most c r i t i c s refused to read a C h r i s t i a n message i n a country scene that r e p u l s e d them with i t s coarse, immoral r u s t i c s and neglected, dying sheep. Perhaps the g r e a t e s t s u r p r i s e i s that anyone l i k e d i t at a l l . But Hunt did not produce t h i s work i n a h i s t o r i c a l vacuum. As was i n d i c a t e d i n Chapters I I I and IV, i n t e l l e c t u a l s i n a v a r i e t y of d i s c i p l i n e s were i n s i s t i n g on a new type of a r t which acknowledged and i n c o r p o r a t e d the s c i e n t i f i c p r i n c i p l e s which p r o v i d e d the t h e o r e t i c a l f o u n d a t i o n f o r England's i n d u s t r i a l wealth and power. In 1851 conservative c r i t i c s had branded these new paintings \"monkish f o l 1 i e s \" - - m e d i e v a l i z i n g anachronisms which f l a u n t e d g a r i s h c o l o r s , u n i d e a l i z e d f i g u r e s and e x c e s s i v e d e t a i l . The a r t i c l e s and reviews written i n support of The H i r e l i n g Shepherd and other Pre-Raphaelite works e x h i b i t e d i n 1852 i n s i s t e d that these formal q u a l i t i e s were not anachronistic. Instead they were the h a l l m a r k of a modern a e s t h e t i c which favored the c l o s e observation and highly p a r t i c u l a r i z e d rendering of forms within a composition. This mode of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , which i s akin to the techniques used i n making s c i e n t i f i c drawings, i s useful i f the 90 intent i s to analyze a subject i n order to understand i t . In his r e v i e w o f The H i. r ej_ i^ng Shepherd R o s s e t t i p r a i s e d Hunt s p e c i f i c a l l y for h i s s k i l l at observation and analysis: \"...the action of each of these s h e e p \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a l l d i s t i n c t and c h a r a c t e r i s t i c \u00E2\u0080\u0094 has been watched and p e r f e c t l y understood\" (p. 66). As was d e s c r i b e d i n Chapter IV, c a r e f u l o b s e r v a t i o n and a n a l y s i s were s c i e n t i f i c t o o l s which were a l s o being applied to the formulation of s o c i a l and economic p o l i c y . Such methods not o n l y p r o v i d e d the means to gather and process raw data, but they a l s o l e n t an aura of o b j e c t i v i t y and authority to the p o l i c i e s which were the end product of such a process. S i m i l a r l y Hunt, his colleagues, and supporters were aware that an empirical approach to art could confer s i m i l a r b e n e f i t s . P a i n t i n g s such as The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd and A Huguenot, which possessed moral themes, c o u l d c l a i m an even stronger moral a u t h o r i t y which d e r i v e d from the s c i e n t i f i c manner i n which they were executed, since the laws of science were assumed to operate under divine approval. I t i s apparent from the d i s c o u r s e s which The H i r e l i n g Shepherd generated that i t s most vehement c r i t i c s and ardent supporters represented opposing factions within the urban middle c l a s s , and that these groups understood e x a c t l y what was at stake. The importance of science was not the issue. Both sides championed science and i n d u s t r y as the source of England's wealth, power, and s o c i a l s t a b i l i t y . The success of the Great Exhibition of 1851 g r a p h i c a l l y demonstrated the broad consensus that e x i s t e d throughout the middle and upper c l a s s e s about the v a l u e of s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i s e . 1 The r e a l debate was about who would speak f o r the i n d u s t r i a l c u l t u r e and what they would say. C u l t u r a l c o n s e r v a t i v e s p r e f e r r e d to g r a f t the trappings of the former a r i s t o c r a t i c , a g r a r i a n order onto an urban-industrial economic and p o l i t i c a l structure. Their message was t r a n s m i t t e d by c l e r g y who preached the accepted dogma of established i n s t i t u t i o n a l r e l i g i o n and those i n t e l l e c t u a l s who invoked the glory of the past and the authority of the c l a s s i c a l t r a d i t i o n . I t i s not s u r p r i s i n g , then, that one of the most sustained a t t a c k s on Hunt and h i s c o l l e a g u e s came from a c o n s e r v a t i v e clergyman, the Reverend Edward Young. In 1857 Young published a lengthy book attacking the Pre-Raphaelites. 2 Like Hunt, Ruskin, R o s s e t t i , and Masson he recognized the l i n k between the new a r t and science, but c o u l d not share i n t h e i r b e l i e f t hat t h i s association marked a new phase of a r t i s t i c progress: There are few things, perhaps more ominous i n the present day t h a n t h a t o f w h i c h P r e - Ra f f a e 1 1 i t i s m i s an expression...There never was perhaps, a time when there co-e x i s t e d so much knowledge and so l i t t l e p r o p o r t i o n a t e wisdom, or when a l l that d i d not admit, l i k e mechanics or the fixed sciences, of being tested by palpable experiment was being disintegrated by the discovered wonders of i t s own component p a r t i c l e s . R e l i g i o n and academic a e s t h e t i c s c o u l d o f f e r no h e l p i n such a process of a n a l y s i s and \" d i s i n t e g r a t i o n ; \" t h e i r f u n c t i o n was completely a n t i t h e t i c a l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e s y n t h e s i s of i d e a l forms i n t o a harmonious whole by means which were l a r g e l y i n t u i t i v e . David Masson understood that men such as Young would not welcome a new s c i e n t i f i c a e s t h e t i c which r e n d e r e d t h e i r e d u c a t i o n and experience u s e l e s s . In h i s review of Pre-R a p h a e l i t i s m he 92 remarked a p p r o v i n g l y t h a t Hunt had \"too s t r o n g and too u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d a sense of what f a c t i s , t o seek f o r i t e x c l u s i v e l y among West-end e c c l e s i a s t i c a l i t i e s . \" 4 That a r t i s t ' s p u b l i c c o n s i s t e d of Young's r i v a l s i n the contest f o r c u l t u r a l c o n t r o l \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h e Broderips, Rossettis, and C a r l y l e s of mid-Victorian society, whose s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l v i s i o n has been described i n the previous chapter. J. B. Atkinson's review of art exhibitions i n 1858 provides valuable insights into the d i r e c t i o n landscape painting took as a r e s u l t of The H i r e 1 i n g Shepherd and other Pre-Raphaelite landscapes. As i s c l e a r from h i s remarks, Atkinson was a champion of the a r i s t o c r a t i c , academic t r a d i t i o n in the mold of Reynolds and Eastlake. His discomfort with the kind of paintings produced for recent exhibitions i s c l e a r : S t i l l , i n a l l t h i s we see not the dawn of any great era. Thistle-down, hedge, c l e m a t i s , d a i s i e s , even the renowned cher r y - b 1 os som.. .may one day a g a i n s i n k i n t o mere commonplace. The p u b l i c may ere long have had more than enough of t h i s r u r a l s i m p l i c i t y . . .and the w e l l - d r e s s e d , high-born crowds of the Academy may again r e g a i n t h e i r i n n a t e sympathy w i t h the a r i s t o c r a c y o f n a t u r e , the mountain-heights, the i n f i n i t y of space...all that g i v e d i g n i t y t o e a r t h , and s u b l i m i t y t o sky...This year's Exhibitions would appear designed s p e c i a l l y to teach us that the f i n e a r t s are o n l y a branch of n a t u r a l h i s t o r y ; that the more perfect the picture, the more nearly i t approaches to a s c i e n t i f i c diagram; that a painting of rock or mountain i s worse than \"worthless,\" unless the geologist can bring to i t h i s hammer and bag h i s specimens; that a foreground i s absolutely \"dishonest\" unless the Microscopic Society could t u r n i t i n t o a s t u d i o . The poet i s thus f a i r l y ousted from h i s domain and imagination l i e s imprisoned i n the hard f e t t e r s of p o s i t i v e and v i s u a l r e a l i t y . C l e a r l y the Academy public, a l a r g e l y middle-class, urban group, 93 had, by t h i s time, g i v e n t h e i r approval to the kind of a r t promoted by Masson, E l i o t , R o s s e t t i , C a r l y l e , and Hunt--an a r t that represented t h e i r \"plebian\" concern with making an accurate assessment of p h y s i c a l r e a l i t y . No longer would they accept a outmoded form of art which assumed that there was an \"aristocracy of n a t u r e \" w a i t i n g t o be p a i n t e d f o r a p u b l i c which was assumed to be e x c l u s i v e l y high born. Although the r u r a l landscapes of which Atkinson was writing s h a r e d much w i t h t h e i r a n t e c e d e n t from 1852, i m p o r t a n t differences a l s o existed. These works made no pretense of being moral sermons i n n a t u r a l i s t i c disguise. Perhaps th i s was because the b a s i c tenets of s c i e n t i f i c n a t u r a 1 i s m ~ w h i c h h e l d that the universe can be attributed to uniform and v e r i f i a b l e processes of nature without recourse to supernatural causes\u00E2\u0080\u0094were increasingly accepted without being d i r e c t l y t i e d to t h e o l o g i c a l p a l l i a t i v e s regarding God's divine plan. Also, these paintings combined Pre-Raphaelite realism with r u r a l subjects which did not threaten the a f f i r m a t i v e image of the countryside demanded by t h e i r p u b l i c . M e t i c u l o u s landscapes featured well-behaved country people, working and p l a y i n g j u s t as they had done i n more g e n e r a l i z e d landscapes f i f t y years e a r l i e r (see, f o r example, John Brett's The Stonebreaker of 1857-8, Fig. 14, p. 112). The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, then, was somewhat of an anomaly, both i n 1852 and l a t e r . Hunt's r e f u s a l to accommodate the normative v i s i o n of the countryside was occasioned by h i s commitment to a form of painting which revealed moral truths v i a a s c i e n t i f i c rendering of n a t u r a l forms. Most of Hunt's p u b l i c found t h i s r e l e n t l e s s realism too threatening to be acceptable. 94 Indeed, after f i n i s h i n g the o i l sketch for The H i r e l i n g Shepherd in 1860, even Hunt never again depicted such unidealized figures, although h i s s e t t i n g s and d e t a i l s remained h i g h l y elaborated. Fortunately for scholars t r y i n g to understand how art functioned at t h i s time, Hunt's f i r s t modern moral subject d i d push Pre-R a p h a e l i t e \" t r u t h t o n a t u r e \" t o t h e o u t e r l i m i t s o f a c c e p t a b i l i t y . In the process, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd generated a l i v e l y debate which exposed the s t r a t e g i e s used by opposing f a c t i o n s i n the contest f o r i d e o l o g i c a l c o n t r o l of E n g l i s h society. For Hunt and the s c i e n t i f i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d i n t e l l e c t u a l s who championed The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, the words of William Blake c o u l d be sounded as t h e i r c h a l l e n g e to the nineteenth-century defenders of an eighteenth-century c l a s s i c a l a e s t h e t i c : \"To G e n e r a l i z e i s to be an I d i o t . To P a r t i c u l a r i z e i s the Alone D i s t i n c t i o n of Merit.\" 6 95 NOTES 1. The working c l a s s e s g e n e r a l l y shunned the G r e a t E x h i b i t i o n (\"Labour and the C r y s t a l Palace,\" Northern Star, June 14, 1851, p. 4). In 1852 a l e t t e r i n the S t a r of Freedom i n d i c a t e d why one worker was unimpressed by t h i s c e l e b r a t i o n of i n d u s t r i a l power: \"For some years we have had i t dinned i n our ears that every hungry man was f e d \u00E2\u0080\u0094 t h a t our modern i n s t i t u t i o n s were p r o g r e s s i n g to p e r f e c t i o n . Last year Hyde Park was a l l gaiety. Science h e l d her c a r n i v a l and man, astonished and bewildered at the s i g h t , asked not how many men have p e r i s h e d , d i e d , because of the m i s a p p l i c a t i o n o f man's i n g e n u i t y . \" (\"Pauperism, C i v i l i s a t i o n and Emigration,\" l e t t e r to the editors, Star of Freedom, June 5, 1852, p. 15) 2. Edward Young, P r e - R a f f a e l l i t i s m (London: Longman, Brown and Green, 1857). 3. Ibid., p. 241. 4. [David Masson], Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphaelitism, The Germ, and the Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n , B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), p. 217. 5. [Joseph B. Atkinson], \"London E x h i b i t i o n s and London C r i t i c s , \" Blackwood's, 84 (1858), p. 186. 6. W i l l i a m Blake, \"Annotations to S i r Joshua Reynold's Discourses\" ( o r i g . pub. 1808) i n W i l l i a m Blake, The Complete Writings of Wi1liam Blake, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (London: Oxford Uni v e r s i t y Press, 1966), p. 451. 96 Figure 1 William Holman Hunt, The H i r e l i n g Shepherd, 1851, Ci t y of Manchester Art Gallery (Source: City of Manchester Art G a l l e r i e s ) 97 98 J o h n E v e r e t t M i l l a i s , M a r i a n a , 1851, The M a k i n s C o l l e c t i o n [ S o u r c e : J a m e s H a r d i n g , T h e P r e -R a p h a e l i t e s (New Y o r k : R i z z o l i , 1 9 7 7 ) ] 99 F i g u r e 3: W i l l i a m H o l m a n H u n t , V a l e n t i n e R e s c u i n g S y l v i a f r o m P r o t e u s , 1 8 5 1 , B i r m i n g h a m A r t G a l l e r y [ S o u r c e : J a m e s H a r d i n g , The P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s (New Y o r k : R i z z o l i , 1 9 7 7 ) ] 100 F i g u r e 4: C h a r l e s C o l l i n s , C o n v e n t T h o u g h t s , 1 8 5 1 , A s h m o l e a n M u s e u m , O x f o r d [ S o u r c e: J a m e s H a r d i n g , T h e P\u00C2\u00A3e-Rajjhae _ l _ i t e s (New Y o r k : R i z z o l i , 1 9 7 7 ) ] .PA 101 Figure 5 John Everett M i l l a i s , Ophelia, 1851-2, The Tate Gallery, London (Source: The Tate Gallery, London) 102 103 J o h n E v e r e t t M i l l a i s , A H u g u e n o t , 1 8 5 1 - 2 , T h e M a k i n s C o l l e c t i o n ( S o u r c e : T h e M a k i n s C o l l e c t i o n ) 104 F i g u r e 7: I I G u e r c i n o ( G i o v a n n i F r a n c e s c o B a r b i e r i ) , I P a s t o r i d ' A r c a d i a , n. d., G a l l e r i a N a z i o n a l e d ' A r t e A n t i c a , Rome [ S o u r c e : I I G u e r c i n o ( B o l o g n a : A l f a , 1 9 6 8 ) ; r e p r o d u c e d b y c o u r t e s y o f D e n i s Mahon] 105 F i g u r e 8: E n g r a v i n g from Henry Jutsam, A Mountain Spring, 1852 (Source: I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News) 106 F i g u r e 9: W i l l i a m M u l r e a d y , The S o n n e t , 1839, V i c t o r i a and A l b e r t Museum, L o n d o n [ S o u r c e : J a m e s H a r d i n g , The P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s (New Y o r k : R i z z o l i , 1 9 7 7 ) ] 107 F i g u r e 10: E n g r a v i n g f r o m T h o m a s F. M a r s h a l l , T h e S h e p h e r d ' s D a u g_h t e r , 1 8 5 2 ( S o u r c e : 1 1 l u s t r a t e d L o n d o n NewsT 108 109 F i g u r e 12: E n g r a v i n g f r o m H e n r y J u t s a m , The H a r v e s t F i e l d , 1849 ( S o u r c e : 1 1 l u s t r a t e d L o n d o n News) 110 F i g u r e 13: C h a r l e s E a s t l a k e , I p p o l i t a T o r e l l i , R. A. 1851, d e s t r o y e d [ S o u r c e : D a v i d R o b e r t s o n , S i r C h a r l e s E a s t l a k e and t h e V i c t o r i a n A r t WorTdT ( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 7 8 ) ] 111 Figure 14: John Brett, The Stonebreaker, 1857-8, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool [Source: James Harding, The Pre-Raphaelites (New York: R i z z o l i , 1977)] 112 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Part I: Books Axton, W. F. \" V i c t o r i a n Landscape P a i n t i n g : A Change i n Outlook.\" In Nature and the V i c t o r i a n I_magination, pp. 281-308. E d i t e d by U. C. Knoepf1macher and G. B. Tennyson. Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1977. [Bennett, Mary]. Wil liam Holman Hunt: An Exhibition Arranged by the Walker A r t G a l l e r y . L i v e r p o o l : Walker A r t G a l l e r y , 1969. Blake, William. The Complete Writings of Wil1iam Blake. Edited by Geoffrey Keynes. London: Oxford University Press, 1966. Broderip, W i l l i a m and Sowerby, G. B. Species Conchy1iorurn. London: G. B. Sowerby, 1830. Brooke, John H. \"The N a t u r a l Theology of the G e o l o g i s t s : Some T h e o l o g i c a l Strata.\" In Images of the Earth, pp. 39-64. E d i t e d by L. J. Jordanova and Roy S. Porter. C h a l f o n t St. G i l e s : B r i t i s h Society for the History of Science, 1979. C a i r d , James. E n g l i s h A g r i c u 1 t u r e i n 1850-51. London: Frank Cass, 1852. C a r l y l e , Thomas. Latter-Day Pamphlets. London: Chapman and H a l l , 1901 (orig. pub. 1850T-Errington, Lindsay. \"Social and Religious Themes in English Art 1840-1860.\" Ph.D. d i s s e r t a t i o n , University of London, 1973. G a s k e l l , E l i z a b e t h . North and South. New York: Putnam, 1906 (orig. pub. 1855). Gosse, Edmund. Father and Son: Biographical Recollections. New York: Charles Scribners, 1908. The Hi s t o r y of the \"Times.\" 4 v o l s . New York: Macmillan, 1935-52. Hunt, W i l l i a m Holman. Pre-Raphae 1 i t i s m and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1905. Hutchison, Sidney. The History of the Royal Academy, 1768-1968. London: Chapman and H a l l , 1968. Huxley, Leonard. L i f e and L e t t e r s of Thomas Henry Hux1ey. 2 v o l s . London: Macmillan, 1900. Huxley, Thomas. Methods and Results. New York: Appleton, 1902. 113 Ironside, Robin and Gere, London: Phaidon, 1948. John. Pre-Raphaelite P a i n t e r s . K e l l e t t , E. E. \"The Press.\" In E a r l y V i c t o r i a n England, 2 v o l s . , 2:1-97. E d i t e d by G. M. Young. London: Oxford Un i v e r s i t y Press, 1934. Kingsley, Charles. Alton Locke. London: Macmillan, 1905 (orig. pub. 1850). Landow, George. \"There Began to Be a Great T a l k i n g about the Fine Arts.\" In The Mind and A r t of V i c t o r i a n England, pp. 124-45. E d i t e d by J o s e f A l t h o l z . M i n n e a p o l i s : University of Minnesota Press, 1976. L y e l l , C h a rles. Char1es L y e l 1 , L i f e , L e t t e r s and J o u r n a l s . 2 v o l s . London: John Murray, 1881. M i l l a i s , John G. The L i f e and L e t t e r s of S i r John E v e r e t t M i l l a i s . 2 vols. London: Methuen, 1899. Newby, Howard. The Deferential Worker. Madison: Univ e r s i t y of Wisconsin Press, 1979. Panofsky, Erwin. Me_anjLn.g i n the V i s u a l A r t s . New York: Doubleday, 1955. \"Report of the S e l e c t Committee on C r i m i n a l and D e s t i t u t e J u v e n i l e s . \" P a r l i a m e n t a r y Papers, 1852, v i i . , Minutes of Evidence. Excerpted as \"Without N a t u r a l P o l i c e , 1852\" i n The Idea o f the Cji t y i n N i n e t e e n t h Century_ B r ^ t a , pp. 132-4. E d i t e d by B. I. Coleman. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973. Reynolds, Joshua. Discourses on Art. New York: Bobbs M e r r i l l , 1965 ( o r i g . pub. as s i n g l e work, 1797). R o s s e t t i , W i l l i a m M i c h a e l . The Diary of Wi11iam Michael Ros^s^etti^. I n t r o d u c t i o n by Odette Bornand. O x f o r d : Clarendon Press, 1975. . The P. R. B. J o u r n a l . E d i t e d by W i l l i a m Fredeman. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Ruskin, John. The Works of John Ruskin. 39 v o l s . Edited by E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn. London: George A l l e n , 1903-12. Sambrook, James, ed. Pre-Raphaelitism. Chicago: Univ e r s i t y of Chicago Press, 1974. Simon, John. City of London Medical Reports, #2 (1850). In Human Documents of the V i c t o r i a n Golden Age (1850-1875), p. 27 8. Edited by E. Royston Pike. London: George A l l e n and Unwin, 1967. 114 Smith, Sheila. The Other Nation: The Poor i n English Novels of the 1840's and 1850's. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980. Staley, A l l e n . The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. [Stephens, F r e d e r i c G.]. Wi11iam Holman Hunt and h i s Works. London: J. Nisbet, 1860. Surtees, Robert. Mr. Sponge's S p o r t i n g Tour, 1852. Quoted i n Richard Faber, Proper Stations: Class i n V i c t o r i a n F i c t i o n , p. 65. London: Faber and Faber, 1971. Sussman, Herbert. Fact i n t o Figure: Typology i n C a r l y l e , Ruskin, and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1979. [Tate G a l l e r y (London)]. The P r e - R a p h a e l i t e s . London: A l l e n Lane, 1984. Young, Edward. P r e - R a f f a e l i t i s m . London: Longman, Brown and Green, 1857. Part I I : Journals and Newspapers \" A g r i c u l t u r a l D i s t r e s s . \" Spectator, 24 (February 22, 1851), p. 172. \" A g r i c u l t u r a l Labourers.\" Spectator, 24 (February 8, 1851), p. 146. [\"Amicus\"]. L e t t e r to the e d i t o r s . Times, January 2, 1852, p. 8. \"Art and the Royal Academy.\" Fraser's, 46 (1852), pp. 228-36. [Atkinson, Joseph B.]. \"London Exhibitions and London C r i t i c s . \" Blackwood's, 84 (1858), pp. 181-200. B [ a l l a n t y n e ] , J[ohn]. \"The P r e - R a f f a e l i t e s . \" A r t J o u r n a l , 3 (1851), pp. 185-6. Banks, J. A. \" P o p u l a t i o n Change and the V i c t o r i a n C i t y . \" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 11 (March 1968), pp. 277-89. Bendix, Reinhold. \"The S e l f - l e g i t i m i z a t i o n of an Entrepreneurial Class.\" Z e i t s c h r i f t f u r die Gesammte Staatswissenschaft, 110 (1954), pp. 48-72. 115 Cooper, Robyn. \"The R e l a t i o n s h i p between the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Painters before Raphael i n English C r i t i c i s m of the Late 1840's and 1850's.\" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 24:4 (Summer 1981), pp. 405-38. \"Decrease of Cottages.\" Spectator, 24 (June 28, 1851), p. 614. \"D e s t r u c t i v e F i r e i n Berkshire.\" 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, 20 (May 1, 1852), p. 332. [Eagles, John]. \"Fine A r t s and the P u b l i c Taste i n 1853.\" Blackwood's, 74 (1853), pp. 89-104. [ E l i o t , George]. \"The N a t u r a l H i s t o r y of German L i f e . \" Westminster Review, 66 (July 1856), pp. 51-79. El l e g a r d , Alvar. \"The Readership of the P e r i o d i c a l Press i n Mid-Vi c t o r i a n B r i t a i n , II. Directory.\" V i c t o r i a n P e r i o d i c a l s Newsletter, 13 (1971), pp. 3-22. \"The Engineers and t h e i r Employers.\" 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, January 10, 1852, pp. 25-6. \"The E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy.\" A r t Journa1, 3 (1851), pp. 153-64. \"The E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy.\" A r t J o u r n a l , 4 (1852), pp. 165-77. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy.\" Times, May 3, 1851, p. 8; Second Notice, May 7, 1851, p. 8. \" E x h i b i t i o n of the Royal Academy.\" Times, May 1, 1852; Second Notice, May 14, p. 6. [Hart, Solomon]. \"Review of Pre-Raphaelitism.\" Athenaeum, August 23, 1851, pp. 908-9. Kent, Christopher. \"Periodical C r i t i c s of Drama, Music and Art, 1830-1914: A P r e l i m i n a r y L i s t . \" V i c t o r i a n P e r i o d i c a 1 s Review, 13:1-2 (Spring and Summer 1980), pp. 31-55. \"Labour and the C r y s t a l Palace.\" Northern Star, June 14, 1851, p. 4. Mackay, Charles. \"Trade and Spade.\" 11lustrated London News, 18 (May 17, 1851), p. 438. Macmillan, John Duncan. \"Holman Hunt's H i r e l i n g Shepherd: Some R e f l e c t i o n s on a V i c t o r i a n P a s t o r a l . \" A r t B u i l e t i n , 54 (1972), pp. 187-97. Masson, David. \"Latter-Day Pamphlets\" (review). North B r i t i s h Review, 14 (November 1850), pp. 1-22. 116 \" . Review of Ruskin's Pre-Raphaelitism, The Germ, and the Exhibition of the Royal Academy. B r i t i s h Quarterly Review, 16 (1852), pp. 197-220. \"Opening of the B r i t i s h I n s t i t u t i o n , \" I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, 20 (February 14, 1852), pp. 147-8. \"Pauperism, C i v i l i s a t i o n and Emigration,\" l e t t e r to the editors. Star of Freedom, June 5, 1852, p. 15. \"Pre-Raphaelitism.\" Art Journal, 3 (1851), p. 285-6. \"Pre-Raphaelitism.\" I r i s h Quarterly Review, 1:4 (December 1851), pp. 740-62. R i p p i n g i l l e , Edward. \"Obsoletism i n Art.\" Bentley's Miscel lany, 31 (June 1852), pp. 598-609. [ R o s s e t t i , W i l l i a m M i c h a e l ] . \"The Royal Academy E x h i b i t i o n . \" Spectator, May 1852, passim. \"The Royal Academy.\" Athenaeum, May 1852, passim. \"Royal Academy.\" Athenaeum, May-June 1851, passim. \"The Royal Academy.\" 111ustrated London News, May-June 1852, passim. Ryan, Desmond. \"A Song of Spring.\" I 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, May 4, 1850, p. 309. Stephens, Frederic G. [John Seward]. \"The Purpose and Tendency of E a r l y I t a l i a n Art.\" The Germ, no. 2 (February 1850), pp. 58-64. \"The Strengths and Duties of Poverty.\" Chambers' Edinburgh Journal, 13 (February 2, 1850), pp. 65-8. [ T a y l o r , Tom]. \"\"Our C r i t i c ' among the P i c t u r e s . \" Punch, 22 (June 1852), pp. 7 and 216. Turner, Frank. \" R a i n f a l l , Plagues and the P r i n c e of Wales: A Chapter i n the C o n f l i c t of Religion and Science.\" Journal of B r i t i s h Studies, 13 (1974), pp. 46-65. . \"Victorian S c i e n t i f i c Naturalism and Thomas Carlyle.\" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 18 (March 1975), pp. 325-43. \"A V i s i t to the Royal Academy.\" Star of Freedom, May 29, 1852, p. 2. Warner, Malcolm. \"Notes on M i l l a i s ' Use of Subjects from the Opera, 1851-4.\" Pre-Raphaelite Review, 2:1 (November 1978), pp. 73-6. 117 APPENDIX Survey of Periodicals Reviewing The H i r e l i n g Shepherd A l l e i g h t p e r i o d i c a l s under c o n s i d e r a t i o n here ( A r t J o u r n a l , Times, Athenaeum, 1 1 l u s t r a t e d London News, Punch, Spectator, B r i t i s h Q u a r t e r l y Review, and Star of Freedom) were p u b l i s h e d i n London and spoke to an urban readership. Thus a l l promoted urban i n d u s t r i a l i n t e r e s t s o v e r those of r u r a l p r o p r i e t o r s and farmers. Beyond t h i s u n i f y i n g feature, these journals and newspapers represented d i f f e r e n t urban groups and thus had somewhat varied c u l t u r a l and p o l i t i c a l outlooks. The Art J o u r n a l , which claimed a monthly c i r c u l a t i o n of 25,000 i n 1851, catered to the a r t i s t i c a l l y sophisticated members of the upper and middle clas s e s . 1 In 1845 the editor c l e a r l y set out the journal's p o l i t i c a l philosophy: \"Conservative by education, h a b i t , and p r i n c i p l e , we shrink from the idea of a i d i n g the a d v e r s a r i e s of any e s t a b l i s h e d i n s t i t u t i o n . \" 2 Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , the A r t J o u r n a l was, along with the Times, the staunchest defender of the Royal Academy among the publications surveyed. The Times' read e r s h i p was approximately 61,000 i n 1855. L i k e the A r t Journa 1, i t catered to the educated middle and upper classes. P o l i t i c a l l y conservative, i t adopted the position of 3 the High Church on r e l i g i o u s matters. The Athenaeum (estimated c i r c u l a t i o n in 1855\u00E2\u0080\u009420,000) was a weekly review devoted p r i m a r i l y to l i t e r a t u r e and science. 4 As such i t catered to middle- and u p p e r - c l a s s i n t e l l e c t u a l s and 118 expounded p o l i t i c a l views ranging from conservative to ce n t r i s t . The nature of i t s art c r i t i c i s m varied somewhat over the decades of the 1850's and 1860's. For example the c r i t i c i n 1849-51 was Solomon Hart, whose c o n s e r v a t i v e reviews were a e s t h e t i c a l l y consistent with the paintings he produced for the Royal Academy e x h i b i t i o n s at that time. Ten years l a t e r the c r i t i c was F. G. Stephens, a c u l t u r a l progressive and p o l i t i c a l l i b e r a l , who had been a s t e a d f a s t f r i e n d and advocate of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood since i t s inception. 6 The weekly I ^ ^ u s ^ r a t e d London News (I. L. N.) had a 7 c i r c u l a t i o n of about 100,000 i n 1860 and was avowedly middle c l a s s : \"Our business w i l l not be with the s t r i f e of the party, but with...the home l i f e of the empire, with the house-hold gods of the E n g l i s h people and above a l l of the E n g l i s h poor.\" 8 Notwithstanding t h i s d e c l a r a t i o n of concern f o r the poor, the editors were angered when 20,000 workers went on s t r i k e i n 1852, c l o s i n g factories i n London and Manchester. The editors focused on the \"deadly i n j u r y upon the trade of the country\" which the Q s t r i k e would b r i n g , not the p l i g h t of the workers. Although the paper was more l i b e r a l than the Times, a r t c r i t i c i s m at the I. L. N. followed the Times' conservative viewpoint quite c l o s e l y i n t h i s period. Punch ( c i r c u l a t i o n , 40,000, i n I 8 6 0 1 0 ) was a m i d d l e - c l a s s weekly which had been s t r o n g l y r a d i c a l i n the e a r l y 1840's, but by 1852 was l i b e r a l / c e n t r i s t i n o r i e n t a t i o n . 1 1 Like the Times and I. L. N. i t was m i l i t a n t l y p r o - i n d u s t r i a l ; i n 1852 most issues contained c r i t i c i s m and r i d i c u l e directed at farmers desiring to see duties reimposed on imported grain. It i s worth noting that Tom Taylor, art c r i t i c for Punch i n 1852, became the Times c r i t i c i n 1857. * P e r i o d i c a l s at t h i s time, i t seems, would t o l e r a t e some v a r i a t i o n i n a r t i s t i c viewpoint among t h e i r c r i t i c s as long as they they d i d not d e v i a t e too w i d e l y from b a s i c e d i t o r i a l p o l i c y . The Spectator was a weekly newspaper ( c i r c u l a t i o n i n 1855 estimated at 2,600) which was devoted to p o l i t i c a l , l i t e r a r y , and s c i e n t i f i c topics. E l l e g a r d describes i t s readers as middle to upper middle c l a s s , h i g h l y educated, and p o l i t i c a l l y l i b e r a l . R e l i g i o u s i s s u e s were g e n e r a l l y t r e a t e d from a l a t i t u d i n a r i a n viewpoint. J In 1850 W. M. R o s s e t t i , who became the paper's a r t c r i t i c i n 1851, wrote of i t s e d i t o r i a l a r t p o l i c y : \" . . . i t appears that i t s t a c t i c s are somewhat h o s t i l e to the Academy i n so f a r at l e a s t as the aim of k e e p i n g i t up t o p u b l i c r e s p o n s i b i l i t y may be so construed.\"\"''4 Information about the B r i t i s h Quarterly Review i s somewhat l i m i t e d . E l l e g a r d r e p o r t s i t s c i r c u l a t i o n i n the 1850's as approximately 2,000. I t was a p o l i t i c a l l y l i b e r a l r e l i g i o u s review, d i r e c t e d toward C o n g r e g a t i o n a l i s t s and B a p t i s t s . 1 ^ A r t reviews were rare; most of the i s s u e s p u b l i s h e d i n 1852 were devoted to l i t e r a r y reviews and r e l i g i o u s a r t i c l e s . The most r a d i c a l p e r i o d i c a l under consideration i s the Star of Freedom, which previously had been published as the Northern Star. A Chartist paper which o u t l i v e d the Chartist Movement, i t promoted the causes of the working c l a s s e s and women before ceasing p u b l i c a t i o n i n 1852. Although the l i t e r a r y reviews which appeared i n 1852 were i d e o l o g i c a l l y consistent with the general 120 p o l i c y of the paper, the a r t reviews were not, as the excerpts quoted i n Chapter II i n d i c a t e . In general the c r i t i c p a r roted the aesthetic views of the we l l - e s t a b l i s h e d conservative organs' such as the A r t J o u r n a l and Times. I t i s apparent t h a t the author of the R. A. E x h i b i t i o n review saw academic a r t as a commodity which expressed u n i v e r s a l v a l u e s r a t h e r than the i n t e r e s t s of a p r i v i l e g e d group who opposed the p r i n c i p l e s on which Chartism was based. T h i s b r i e f r e v i e w s u g g e s t s t h a t , the S t a r of Freedom excepted, the p o l i t i c a l spectrum represented by m i d - V i c t o r i a n p e r i o d i c a l s was r e l a t i v e l y narrow ( e s p e c i a l l y when compared to French newspapers and journals of the same period). Ideological differences existed between mass c i r c u l a t i o n newspapers such as the Times and I. L. N., but o f t e n they were s u b t l e . Despite t h i s somewhat constricted range of j o u r n a l i s t i c viewpoints, d i s t i n c t d i f f e r e n c e s i n a e s t h e t i c p h i l o s o p h y are d i s e e r n a b l e i n these v a r i o u s p u b l i c a t i o n s . As i n d i c a t e d i n Chapters II-IV, these a r t i s t i c a t t i t u d e s are u s u a l l y c o n s i s t e n t w i t h the b a s i c p o l i t i c a l , s o c i a l , and r e l i g i o u s orientation of the readership. 121 NOTES 1. George Landow, \"There Began to Be a Great Talking about the Fine A r t s , \" i n The Mind and A r t of V i c t o r i a n England, ed. Josef A l t h o l z (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1976), p. 130. 2. Quoted i n Landow, p. 129. 3. A l v a r E l l e g a r d , \"The Readership of the P e r i o d i c a l Press i n M i d - V i c t o r i a n B r i t a i n , I I . D i r e c t o r y , \" V i c t o r i a n P e r i o d i c a l s Newsletter, 13 (1971), p. 5. 4. Ibid., pp. 8-9. 5. Robyn Cooper, \"The R e l a t i o n s h i p between the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Painters before Raphael i n E n g l i s h C r i t i c i s m of the Late 1840's and 1850's,\" V i c t o r i a n Studies, 24:4 (Summer 1981), p. 411. 6. Christopher Kent, \"Periodical C r i t i c s of Drama, Music and Art, 1830-1914: A P r e l i m i n a r y L i s t , \" V i c t o r i a n P e r i o d i c a l s Review, 13:1-2 (Spring and Summer 1980), p. 47. 7. Ellegard, p. 20. 8. Quoted i n E. E. K e l l e t t , \"The P r e s s , \" i n EarJLy_ V i c t o r i a n England 1830-65, 2 v o l s . , ed. G. M. Young (London: Oxford Uni v e r s i t y Press, 1934), 2:62. 9. \"The Engineers and t h e i r Employers,\" 11lustrated London News, January 10, 1852, p. 26. 10. Ellegard, p. 20. 11. K e l l e t t , p. 90. 12. The H i s t o r y of the \"Times, \" 4 v o l s . (New York: Macmillan, 1935-52), 2:438. 13. Ellegard, p. 11. 14. W i l l i a m Michael R o s s e t t i , The P. R. B. J o u r n a l , ed. Willi a m Fredeman (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), p. 79. 15. Ellegard, pp. 15-6. 122 "@en . "Thesis/Dissertation"@en . "10.14288/1.0096208"@en . "eng"@en . "Fine Arts"@en . "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en . "Graduate"@en . "The natural history of an English Arcadia : Holman Hunt\u00E2\u0080\u0099s The Hireling Shepherd, the rural tradition, and pre-Darwinian science"@en . "Text"@en . "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25162"@en .