Christ In the House of his Parents

"And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then shall he answer. Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends"

John Everett Millais

1849-1850

Oil on Canvas

Tate Gallery, London

The caption below the picture, from the Old Testament, was placed with the original painting, often making the work of art seen as prefiguring Christ's crucifiction. Millais actually based this painting on a carpenter's shop in Oxford street. In this painting, the artist placed several symbols of crucifiction, including wood, nails, cut in Christ’s hand, and the blood in his foot. After finishing the painting, Millais was viciously attacked by the public by portraying the holy family as "ordinary."