Christ and the Two Marys

What does Christ and the Two Marys show?

One woman kneels at the right in a pink dress, with her head lowered and hands clasped; the other bows low across the foreground under a green cloak. His bare feet remain within their reach. A small vessel lies at the lower left, and a palm rises against the colored sky behind them.

The long strips of white cloth no longer bind a body: they hang loosely from Christ’s open arms and curve around the women below. Against them, the rainbow forms a second, much larger arc. Hunt surrounds the very physical act of grasping his feet with color and motion across the sky. Matthew describes the women’s touch and worship; the rainbow and the unfolding cloth give that encounter a visual scale beyond the few words of the account.

The museum dates this canvas to 1847 and 1897. Hunt’s memoir describes a difficult beginning: the figure of Christ needed revision, the canvas needed enlarging, and his money had run out. He also connected setting it aside with doubts about subjects he could sincerely paint. Those practical and religious obstacles belong together; the two dates do not establish fifty years of continuous disbelief. In recalling the young picture, Hunt said he wanted the encounter to recover something of the women’s surprise, and rejected the familiar resurrection banner.

Featured in: William Holman Hunt’s Bible Paintings: A Goat, a Gun and The Light of the World

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Featured in: Finding Your Voice: Mary Magdalene and the Fear of Being Dismissed

What does Matthew 28:9–10 mean?

In Matthew 28:8–10, the women hurry away from the empty tomb to tell the disciples, carrying both fear and great joy. Jesus meets them, greets them, and they grasp His feet and worship Him. Hunt concentrates on that physical response to His presence.

Jesus then tells them not to be afraid and gives them a message for His brothers: they are to go to Galilee, where they will see Him. The encounter does not end with the women remaining at His feet. Their worship leads into a task, carrying news of a promised reunion to the disciples.

Matthew says the women grasped Jesus’ feet and worshiped Him; Hunt makes that close, bodily recognition the heart of the picture.

Sources

Art Gallery of South Australia — Christ and the Two Marys. Exact painting, two dates, layered support, and painting dimensions.

William Holman Hunt — Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, volume I (1905). Pages 78–85 and 172: revisions, enlargement, shortage of money, the rejected banner, and Hunt’s later account of his convictions.

Matthew 28 — Berean Standard Bible. The women’s worship and Jesus’ message for His brothers.