The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt: The Door With No Handle, as an Art Nouveau Poster (1851–1853)
It is night in an overgrown orchard. A tall figure in a white robe and a jewelled cloak stands before a wooden door, a lantern in one hand, the other raised to knock. He wears a crown of thorns, and a soft halo glows behind his head. The door is shut, its hinges rusted and wrapped in ivy, its threshold choked with weeds. This is William Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World , painted in 1851–1853 and one of the best-loved religious pictures of the Victorian age. Here we look at it through a new frame: a vintage Art Nouveau poster with a border of white lilies. William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World , 1851–1853. Oil on canvas over panel, about 125 × 60 cm. Keble College, Oxford. Vintage Art Nouveau poster interpretation by Sapiens Verbum, after the public domain original. Available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get the Art Nouveau poster → Quick facts Artist: William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), founding member of ...