The Awakening Conscience
Encyclopedia
The Awakening Conscience (1853) is an oil-on-canvas
painting by British artist William Holman Hunt
, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
, which depicts a young woman rising from her position in the lap of a man and gazing transfixed out of the window of a room.
Initially the painting would appear to be one of a momentary disagreement between husband and wife, or brother and sister, but the title and a host of symbols within the painting make it clear that this is a mistress and her lover. The woman's clasped hands provide a focal point and the position of her left hand emphasizes the absence of a wedding ring. Around the room are dotted reminders of her "kept" status and her wasted life: the cat beneath the table toying with a bird; the clock concealed under glass; a tapestry which hangs unfinished on the piano; the threads which lie unravelled on the floor; the print of Frank Stone
's Cross Purposes on the wall; Edward Lear
's musical arrangement of Tennyson
's poem "Tears, Idle Tears
" which lies discarded on the floor, and the music on the piano, Thomas Moore
's "Oft in the Stilly Night", the words of which speak of missed opportunities and sad memories of a happier past. The woman's discarded glove and the man's top hat thrown on the table top suggest a hurried assignation. The room is too cluttered and gaudy to be in a Victorian family home; the bright colours, unscuffed carpet, and pristine, highly-polished furniture speak of a room recently furnished for a mistress. The painting's frame is decorated with further symbols: bells (for warning), marigolds (for sorrow), and a star above the girl's head (a sign of spiritual revelation). It also bears a verse from the Book of Proverbs
(25:20): "As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart."
In some ways this painting is a companion to Hunt's Christian painting The Light of the World, a picture of Christ holding a lantern as he knocks on an overgrown handleless door which Hunt said represented "the obstinately shut mind". The young woman here could be responding to that image, her conscience pricked by something outside of herself. The mirror on the rear wall provides a tantalizing glimpse out of the scene. The window — opening out onto a spring garden, in direct contrast to the images of entrapment within the room — is flooded with sunlight. The woman's face does not display a look of shock that she has been surprised with her lover; whatever attracts her is outside of both the room and her relationship. The Athenæum
commented in 1854:
The model for the girl was Annie Miller
, who sat for many of the Pre-Raphaelites and to whom Hunt was engaged until 1859. The male figure may be based on Thomas Seddon
or Augustus Egg
, both painter friends of Hunt. The look on the girl's face in the modern painting is not the look of pain and horror that viewers saw when the painting was first exhibited, and which shocked and repulsed many of the contemporary critics.
The painting was commissioned by Thomas Fairbairn
, a Manchester industrialist and patron of the Pre-Raphaelites who later succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet; he paid Hunt 350 guineas. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy
in 1854, along with The Light of the World. Fairbairn found himself unable to bear looking on the woman's expression day-to-day, so persuaded Hunt to soften it. Hunt started work but fell ill and allowed the painting to be returned to Fairbairn before he was completely happy with the result.
The Victorian art theorist John Ruskin
praised The Awakening Conscience as an example of a new direction in British art in which the narrative was created from the artist's imagination rather than chronicling an event. Ruskin's reading of the painting was also to a moral end. In an 1854 letter to The Times
defending the work, he claimed that there is "not a single object in all that room...but it becomes tragical if read rightly". He was struck by both the stark realism of the room — Hunt had hired a room in a "maison de covenance" (where lovers would take their mistresses) in order to capture the feeling — and the symbolic overtones and compared the revelation of the subjects' characters through the interiors favourably with that of William Hogarth
's Marriage à-la-mode.
The "common, modern, vulgar" interior is overwhelmed by lustrous, unworn objects that will never be part of a home. To Ruskin, the exquisite detail of the painting only called attention to the inevitable ruin of the couple: "The very hem of the poor girl's dress, at which the painter has laboured so closely, thread by thread, has story in it, if we think how soon its pure whiteness may be soiled with dust and rain, her outcast feet failing in the street".
The painting was inherited by Fairbairn's son, Sir Arthur Henderson Fairbairn, 3rd Baronet. It was sold at Christie's in January 1946 by its anonymous owner, and bought by Colin Anderson in 1947. It was donated to the Tate Gallery by Sir Colin and Lady Anderson in 1976.
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
painting by British artist William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt
William Holman Hunt OM was an English painter, and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Biography:...
, one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
, which depicts a young woman rising from her position in the lap of a man and gazing transfixed out of the window of a room.
Initially the painting would appear to be one of a momentary disagreement between husband and wife, or brother and sister, but the title and a host of symbols within the painting make it clear that this is a mistress and her lover. The woman's clasped hands provide a focal point and the position of her left hand emphasizes the absence of a wedding ring. Around the room are dotted reminders of her "kept" status and her wasted life: the cat beneath the table toying with a bird; the clock concealed under glass; a tapestry which hangs unfinished on the piano; the threads which lie unravelled on the floor; the print of Frank Stone
Frank Stone
Frank Stone , was an English painter. He was born in Manchester, and was entirely self-taught.He was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1833 and member in 1843; and an associate of the Royal Academy in 1851.The works he first exhibited at the Academy were portraits,...
's Cross Purposes on the wall; Edward Lear
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
's musical arrangement of Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
's poem "Tears, Idle Tears
Tears, Idle Tears
"Tears, Idle Tears" is a lyric poem written in 1847 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson , the Victorian-era English poet. Published as one of the "songs" in his The Princess , it is regarded for the quality of its lyrics. A Tennyson anthology describes the poem as "one of the most Virgilian of Tennyson's...
" which lies discarded on the floor, and the music on the piano, Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
's "Oft in the Stilly Night", the words of which speak of missed opportunities and sad memories of a happier past. The woman's discarded glove and the man's top hat thrown on the table top suggest a hurried assignation. The room is too cluttered and gaudy to be in a Victorian family home; the bright colours, unscuffed carpet, and pristine, highly-polished furniture speak of a room recently furnished for a mistress. The painting's frame is decorated with further symbols: bells (for warning), marigolds (for sorrow), and a star above the girl's head (a sign of spiritual revelation). It also bears a verse from the Book of Proverbs
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
(25:20): "As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart."
Athenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....
commented in 1854:
The model for the girl was Annie Miller
Annie Miller
Annie Miller was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt has been dramatised several times.-Early life:Annie Miller was born in...
, who sat for many of the Pre-Raphaelites and to whom Hunt was engaged until 1859. The male figure may be based on Thomas Seddon
Thomas Seddon
Thomas Seddon , English landscape painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite style, was born in London.His father was a cabinetmaker, and the son for some time followed the same occupation; but in 1842 he was sent to Paris to study ornamental art. On his return he executed designs for furniture for...
or Augustus Egg
Augustus Egg
Augustus Leopold Egg 2 May 1816 in London, England – 26 March 1863) was a Victorian artist best known for his modern triptych Past and Present , which depicts the breakup of a middle-class Victorian family.-Biography:...
, both painter friends of Hunt. The look on the girl's face in the modern painting is not the look of pain and horror that viewers saw when the painting was first exhibited, and which shocked and repulsed many of the contemporary critics.
The painting was commissioned by Thomas Fairbairn
Thomas Fairbairn
Sir Thomas Fairbairn, 2nd Baronet was an English industrialist and art collector.Fairbairn was born in the Polygon in Ardwick, near the centre of Manchester. He was the third of eight surviving children of Sir William Fairbairn...
, a Manchester industrialist and patron of the Pre-Raphaelites who later succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet; he paid Hunt 350 guineas. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in 1854, along with The Light of the World. Fairbairn found himself unable to bear looking on the woman's expression day-to-day, so persuaded Hunt to soften it. Hunt started work but fell ill and allowed the painting to be returned to Fairbairn before he was completely happy with the result.
The Victorian art theorist John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
praised The Awakening Conscience as an example of a new direction in British art in which the narrative was created from the artist's imagination rather than chronicling an event. Ruskin's reading of the painting was also to a moral end. In an 1854 letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
defending the work, he claimed that there is "not a single object in all that room...but it becomes tragical if read rightly". He was struck by both the stark realism of the room — Hunt had hired a room in a "maison de covenance" (where lovers would take their mistresses) in order to capture the feeling — and the symbolic overtones and compared the revelation of the subjects' characters through the interiors favourably with that of William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
's Marriage à-la-mode.
The "common, modern, vulgar" interior is overwhelmed by lustrous, unworn objects that will never be part of a home. To Ruskin, the exquisite detail of the painting only called attention to the inevitable ruin of the couple: "The very hem of the poor girl's dress, at which the painter has laboured so closely, thread by thread, has story in it, if we think how soon its pure whiteness may be soiled with dust and rain, her outcast feet failing in the street".
The painting was inherited by Fairbairn's son, Sir Arthur Henderson Fairbairn, 3rd Baronet. It was sold at Christie's in January 1946 by its anonymous owner, and bought by Colin Anderson in 1947. It was donated to the Tate Gallery by Sir Colin and Lady Anderson in 1976.