Two studies of the goat for 'The Scapegoat'

William Holman Hunt 1827-1910

Pencil, drawn about November 1854

Accession numbers WAG 10536 (top) and WAG 10535 (bottom)

Purchased by the Walker Art Gallery, 1985, with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund, the Victoria & Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of Merseyside Museums and Art Galleries

Hunt began 'The Scapegoat' in 1854 on the shores of the Dead Sea in Palestine. On his second visit to the Dead Sea he took with him a white goat, bought in Jerusalem. He worked first on the background of the oil painting, leaving a blank space for the goat.

These pencil sketches were done around this time and show him trying out different positions for the goat's head and legs. Hunt eventually completed the painting in Jerusalem from a brown goat, its head facing lower down than in the sketches.

• Read more about Hunt's painting, The Scapegoat, 1854-5, at the Lady Lever Art Gallery
• Compare the two versions of The Scapegoat

In this section

• The next artwork in this section is: Study of Christ and Mary for 'The finding of the Saviour in the Temple'
• Studies for paintings

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