William Holman Hunt (b 2 April 1827, London - d 7 Sept 1910, London)     illiam Holman Hunt was born in not very rich puritan family. He overcame the parental opposition to his choice of career and dedication to the art. From the age of 12 he worked as an office clerk and he had an opportunity to attend drawing classes in the evenings. When he was 16 he gave up the work at the office and began to earn money making copies from popular pictures and portraying friends. In 1844, at the third attempt, he entered the Royal Academy Schools. Here met Millais and Rossetti and in 1848 they founded the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ".     Holman Hunt was the only "brother" who read "Modern Painters" of John Ruskin, the first volume of which he discovered in 1845. The Ruskin's ideas were incredibly conformable to Hunt's own ideas about artist's aim. According to the Ruskin's statements Hunt settled his own principles of art: full transferring of nature, adherence to the inward emotional experience, pedagogical role of art, maintenance of the national traditions, revival of medieval craft and art system. He was the only one in the whole "Brotherhood" who was faithful to his chosen way till the end of his life.     In 1849 he exhibited his first "Pre-Raphaelite" canvas in Academy "Rienzi vowing to obtain Justice for the Death of his young Brother, slain in a skirmish between the Colonna and Orsini factions"(Private collection). In this work Hunt tried to follow his selected technique: he painted the detailed landscape. However only in his next paintings - "Claudio and Isabella (1850, Tate Gallery), "Valentine Rescuing Silvia from Proteus"(1851, Birmingham Art City Museum and Gallery) "The Hireling Shepherd" (1851, Manchester, Art City Gallery), "Our English Coasts (Strayed Sheep)" (1852, London, Tate Gallery) - the predilection for local colours and the smallest details became apparent in the total extent. The Hunt's inclination to morality was shown particularly brightly in one of the most popular of his work - "The Awakening Conscience"( 1853, London, Tate Gallery). In 1853 he painted the canvas "The Light of the World" (Manchester, City Art Gallery) , which brought him long-awaited public recognition. It was known even in far lands of England being drawn in postcards.     Between 1854 and 1893 Holman Hunt visited Palestine for several times, because he wished to bring more authenticity to his Bible studies. His mostly famous works are "The Scapegoat"(1854, Port Sunlight, Art Gallery of Lady Lever), "The Finding of the Savior in the Temple (1854-1860, Birmingham, City Art Museum and Gallery) and "The Shadow of Death" (1870-1873, Manchester, City Art Gallery). Among the latest Hunt's works the most interesting one is "Lady of Shallot" (1886-1905, Hartford, Wordsworth Athenaeum), in which he anticipated the style "Art Nouveau. In 1886 Hunt published the series of articles under the title "PRB": Fight for Art". They arranged the main part of his 2-volume research "Pre-Raphaelitism and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood"(1905), the first detailed history of this movement.