The Woman Taken in Adultery (after Rembrandt van Rijn)

Painted in 1845 when Hunt was eighteen, this copy after Rembrandt's 'Woman Taken in Adultery' reflects the standard academic practice of learning through copying old masters, but Hunt's choice of Rembrandt is significant. The Dutch master's dramatic use of light and shadow, his attention to the psychological complexity of moral confrontation, and his interest in biblical subjects were all aspects that would connect with the young Hunt's developing interests even before the Pre-Raphaelite program gave them a clear direction. This student work, held at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry, documents Hunt's formation within academic traditions that he would soon consciously reject, while also revealing the artistic lineage from which he drew even as he defined himself against it. Rembrandt's influence on Pre-Raphaelite sensibility — particularly the concern with moral seriousness in biblical narrative — was real even when the Brotherhood declared independence from tradition.

A copy exercise on canvas, this work demonstrates Hunt mastering tonal methods derived from Dutch and Flemish practice — the management of dark grounds and dramatically lit figures that characterized Rembrandt's technique. It represents a point of contrast with the white-ground, high-key approach Hunt would adopt with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood three years later, when he decisively abandoned tonal chiaroscuro in favor of the new method.