First Previous 2 OF 29 NextLast

William Holman Hunt

2 of 29 portraits of William Holman Hunt

© National Portrait Gallery, London

 Like voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

William Holman Hunt

by David Wilkie Wynfield
albumen print, 1864
8 3/8 in. x 6 3/8 in. (212 mm x 160 mm)
Purchased, 1979
Primary Collection
NPG P75

Sitterback to top

  • William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), Pre-Raphaelite painter. Sitter in 29 portraits, Artist or producer of 2 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887), Painter and photographer. Artist or producer associated with 34 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This photograph was issued under the heading 'Venetian School' in Wynfield's publication The Studio: A Collection of Photographic Portraits of Living Artists, taken in the style of the Old Masters, by an Amateur. The use of historical costume, together with the blurred focus, were seen at the time as elevating photographic portraiture to the status of fine art. Hunt was interested in sixteenth-century costume at this time and painted a portrait of his nephew dressed as Henry VIII in The King of Hearts (1863)

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1864back to top

Current affairs

First of the Contagious Diseases Act. These acts allowed for the arrest, medical inspection and confinement of any woman suspected of being a prostitute in the port towns. Following huge public outcry over their discrimination against women, notably led by Josephine Butler, leader of the Ladies' National Association, the acts were eventually repealed.
Octavia Hill starts work on slums, and the International Working Men's Association is founded in London.

Art and science

The Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell presents his discoveries in the field of electromagnetics to the Royal Society. His paper A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field expresses the basic laws of electricity and magnetism in unified fashion. Maxwell's equations, as his rules came to be known, helped create modern physics, laying the foundation for future work in special relativity and quantum mechanics.

International

Austria and Prussia combine forces to seize Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark.
Britain cedes Corfu, acquired from France in the Second Treaty of Paris (1815) to Greece. Although Britain had vigorously suppressed an uprising in 1849 in Cephalonia aiming to restore Iolian islands, the government changed policy throughout the 1850s and 60s.

Comments back to top

We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.

If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.