Christ in the House of His Parents. Sir John Everett Millais

Sketches for Christ in the House of His Parents. Sir John Everett Millais

Christ in the House of His Parents (1850) is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's carpentry workshop. The painting was extremely controversial when first exhibited, prompting many negative reviews, most notably one written by Charles Dickens. It catapulted the previously obscure Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to notoriety and was a major contributor to the debate about Realism in the arts.

The painting was immensely controversial when first exhibited because of its realistic depiction of a carpentry workshop, especially the dirt and detritus on the floor. This was in dramatic contrast to the familiar portrayal of Jesus, his family and his apostles, in costumes reminiscent of Roman togas. Charles Dickens accused Millais of portraying Mary as an alcoholic who looks

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...so hideous in her ugliness that ... she would stand out from the rest of the company as a Monster, in the vilest cabaret in France, or the lowest gin-shop in England.

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Jesus was a "wry-necked boy in a nightgown who seems to have received a poke playing in an adjacent gutter."^[3] Other critics suggested that the characters displayed signs of rickets and other disease associated with slum conditions. Because of the controversy Queen Victoria asked for the painting to be taken to Buckingham palace so that she could view it in private.