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JOHN ROGERS HERBERT R.A.

ENGLISH, 1810 - 1890

BiographyHerbert, who had studied at the RA Schools, began by painting portraits and romanticised subjects from Italian history. He came in contact with the Nazarenes in the mid-1830s and slowly adopted a harder, drier style under their influence. Through the architectdesigner A.W.N. Pugin, a Catholic convert, Herbert himself converted around 1840, and from then on painted religious subjects. He was Master of the Government School of Design and was commissioned to paint frescoes for the new Houses of Parliament. Herbert exhibited over a hundred paintings at the RA between 1830 and 1889.

After converting to Catholicism in 1840, Herbert began to paint primarily religious scenes. This is the third version of this subject done by Herbert. The
first was done in 1847, the year following his election to the Royal Academy. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy. The second, dated 1856, now hangs in the Guildhall Art Gallery. This third version is dated 1860. The composition most likely prompted the painting by John Everett Millais of Christ in the House of His Parents done in 1850.

Herbert made several trips to the Holy Land, recording details that would insure accurate portrayals of landscape and ambiance. The subject seems to have been inspired by the scripture in Luke 2:40-"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him." The cross formed by the wood scraps in the foreground prefigures Christ's atoning sacrifice. Mary thoughtfully gazes at her son as he looks at the configuration of the cross. Perhaps the two pigeons refer to the birds offered as a sacrifice when Jesus was presented in the temple at Jerusalem. The basket suggests the sifting of the wheat from the chaff and the red jug in the lower left corner, the water turned into wine.

Person TypeIndividual