Claudio and Isabella

William Holman Hunt

1850-53

Oil on panel

29 ¾ x 16 ⅞ inches

©Tate Gallery, London

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

Hunt illustrates the prison scene in the third act of Measure for Measure when brother and sister reveal their true natures to each other. Claudio, who has been pleading with his sister to sacrifice honor and virtue to save his life, suddenly recognizes the horror of death while his sister perceives how corrupted and corrupting he has become. — George P. Landow

Links to Related Material

  • Early sketch for the painting
  • Highly finished sketch for the painting
  • Summer
  • Detail of Claudio's shackle
  • Hunt's Themes of Conversion and Illumination Throughout His Career

    • Image kindly made available by the gallery on the Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 (Unported) Licence.