William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)

The Scapegoat (1854-5)

According to the Old Testament the priests loaded on to the Scapegoat the sins of the people, who then drove it into the desert to its death in the belief that their sins would thus also be cast out. Later it was seen as pre-figuring Christ's very similar redeeming role. Hunt's relentless realism, characteristic of early Pre-Raphaelitism, induced him to paint much of this canvas in front of an actual dying goat on the desolate shore of the Dead Sea in Palestine. This startling combination of deep symbolic purpose and obsessive, literal detail and colour makes the picture one of the most heroic and moving examples of Pre-Raphaelite naturalism. It is 'Protestant truth not Catholic imagination'. The frame with symbols of hope and forgiveness was designed by the artist.