This piece is called The Awakening Conscience by William Holman Hunt. It feels like we’re peaking in on a quiet scene between two lovers, but if we look at it through the lens of someone living in the 1800s, it takes an unsettling turn. After looking at it in this way, we realize that this woman isn’t this man's wife, she’s his mistress and this room isn’t for comfort, it’s for convenience.

The tale of the "fallen woman" was a prevalent narrative in Victorian England. Given the ubiquity of this storyline, viewers would have perceived the woman in Hunt's painting as someone who had fallen from divine grace.

William Holman Hunt was a very religious man. In fact, the inspiration for this painting came from a Bible verse from Proverbs: 'As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart' which he had written on the original frame. But the artist's religious beliefs aren’t the only reason he created this painting. It was also because for him, this was personal.

The model for this painting was named Annie Miller. She was born in 1835 to a working class family in the slums of London. Hunt met Annie Miller at a pub in Chelsea when she was 16 years old and shortly thereafter, she began modeling for Hunt. Hunt carefully curated Annie’s life to make her into a ‘lady’ and his ideal woman. He yanked her out of poverty, set her up with a nice place to live, good clothes and access to schooling with the ultimate goal that one day she would wake up and choose to be his wife.

And Annie did want to be a wife, just not Hunt’s Wife. Ten years after this painting was created, she married Captain Thomas Thompson who she stayed married to her whole life. She died at the age of 90.

As it turns out, Annie didn’t end up on the streets. The world may have tried to convince her that she was a fallen woman but she didn't buy it. And that’s what I call an awakened conscience.

Credits:
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