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Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop')

John Everett MillaisAround 1849

Tate Britain

Tate Britain
London, United Kingdom

This picture was exhibited with words from the Old Testament, often seen as prefiguring Christ's Crucifixion:

And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then shall he answer. Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Millais based the setting on a real carpenter's shop in Oxford Street. Symbols of the Crucifixion figure prominently: the wood, the nails, the cut in Christ's hand and the blood on his foot. Millais was viciously attacked by the press for showing the holy family as 'ordinary'. Charles Dickens described Christ as 'a hideous, wry-necked, blubbering, red-haired boy in a night-gown.'

Details

  • Title: Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop')
  • Creator: Sir John Everett Millais
  • Creator's place of death: London, United Kingdom
  • Creator's place of birth: Southampton, United Kingdom
  • Date created: Around 1849
  • Provenance: Purchased with assistance from the Art Fund and various subscribers 1921
  • Physical Dimensions: w1397 x h864 mm
  • Original Title: Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop')
  • Type: Painting
  • Medium: Oil on canvas

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