Christ and the two Marys

Painted in 1847 — the year before the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's formal founding — 'Christ and the Two Marys' is an early religious work that reveals Hunt's developing theological vision before his method had fully crystallized. The subject, combining the post-resurrection appearance of Christ with the grief and amazement of Mary Magdalene and another Mary, allowed Hunt to begin exploring the possibilities of emotionally immediate biblical narrative that would define his mature work. The Art Gallery of South Australia's holding of this work in the Antipodes reflects the wide distribution of Pre-Raphaelite works through exhibition and acquisition during the Victorian period, when British art commanded international attention. The painting is significant as an early statement of the religious concerns that would occupy Hunt throughout his career.

The painting shows Hunt working toward the naturalistic figure treatment of his mature style while still working within some academic conventions. The management of the figures' relationships — the risen Christ, the two women in varying states of recognition and grief — required compositional decisions that Hunt was still developing the language to execute with full conviction. Some passages anticipate the precise observation of his mature work while others retain more conventional academic handling.