Claudio and Isabella 1850

William Holman Hunt created this oil painting, Claudio and Isabella, here in London. Paintings like this were meticulously built, layer upon layer. You can sense the amount of work involved. Just look at the details of the costumes: the deep pile of the velvet cloak, the heavy iron of the shackles, the crisp linen of Isabella’s habit. Even the lute hanging on the wall has been carefully rendered. All of this craft declares the painter’s skill and commitment to his art. Hunt wanted to bring a new kind of moral and social realism to painting, and that’s certainly on display here. Look closely, and you can see the intensity of emotions written on the faces of the figures: Claudio's resentment, Isabella's conflict. The artist here becomes a kind of witness, recording the lives and feelings of the figures, and offering them to us for contemplation. Paintings like this are often seen as high art, but in truth, the kind of labor involved is not so different than that of a textile weaver, a blacksmith, or a luthier. Remembering this connection is key to understanding the depth of Hunt's achievement.