Before I started my sabbatical I had a theory that one of Holman Hunt's Pre-Raphaelite paintings takes its inspiration from a Titian in the Louvre (more of that later if I manage to get to Paris).
Anyway I know Holman Hunt also has links with here at St Mark's, the church I am staying at in Florence. He came here with his first wife in 1866 having been delayed on a trip to the Holy Land. While they were here their son Cecil was born but Fanny died in childbirth. Holman Hunt had a chalice made for the church in memory of her with the stone from her engagement ring in the base (I'm hoping to see it before I leave).
Four years after this tragedy Holman Hunt painted 'The Shadow of Death' with Mary rummaging through a chest containing the magi's gifts:
Could the inspiration for this figure come from this detail in a Titian he would have seen at the Uffizi?:
If so, its a detail often overlooked by those studying the whole painting - I can't imagine why?
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