Light at the end of the world: Holman Hunt's the light of the world in New Zealand, 1906

Abstract

This article considers New Zealand responses to William Holman Hunt's painting The Light of the World in 1906 during its visit as part of a tour through the British Empire. Following similar success in Australia, the New Zealand tour was phenomenally popular. The tour is considered primarily with reference to its religious dimension, and provides a window into religion in New Zealand at the beginning of the twentieth century. In particular, it illustrates the pervasive but often veiled nature of Protestant religiosity.