A-Level: 19th-century religious painting

videos + essays

Paul Gauguin, <em>Vision after the Sermon</em> (or <em>Jacob Wrestling with the Angel</em>)
Paul Gauguin, Vision after the Sermon (or Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)

Gauguin contemplates modern culture’s distance from spirituality in this vivid, evocative canvas.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, <em>Ecce Ancilla Domini</em>
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini

Both Millais and Hunt offered to help Rossetti correct the perspective in his Annunciation scene–why did he refuse?

Sir John Everett Millais, <em>Christ in the House of His Parents</em>
Sir John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents

Charles Dickens took umbrage with this unusual depiction of the Holy Family—find out why.