“The Progress of Painting”: Leigh Hunt’s Progress of Visual Sense

Abstract

This essay examines the progress of Leigh Hunt’s visual sense to reconsider his cultural identity within the wider context of the metropolitan visual culture of the Romantic era. By paying close attention to Hunt’s visual experiences, especially during his adolescence, this essay argues that the juvenile Hunt’s strong admiration for the visual certainly affected the novel attempt to realize his ekphrastic aspiration with a pictorial method, as has been actively discussed by recent critics. First, along with a close re-reading of primary sources, including Hunt’s autobiography and letters, the essay examines how the schoolboy Hunt developed his visual consciousness inside and outside of Christ’s Hospital School. Subsequently, reading Hunt’s adolescent work, “The Progress of Painting” from Juvenilia, the essay especially focuses on the aesthetic interrelationship between Hunt and West, who affected the young Hunt’s visual knowledge of art and ekphrastic interpretation. Although there are limitations in attempting to fully decipher the young Hunt’s visual sense, this essay can be a cornerstone to reconsider the aesthetic value of Hunt and his literary works in relation to Romantic visual culture.