Fetch it home by all means -- you may serve it with greens

[left]: Henry Holiday's depiction of the Baker's visit to his uncle (1876) in Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" (engraved by Joseph Swain). Outside of the window are some of the Baker's 42 boxes.

[right top]: John Everett Millais: Christ in the House of His Parents (1850).

[right bottom]: Anonymous: Edward VI and the Pope, An Allegory of Reformation (16th century), mirrored view. Iconoclasm depicted in the window. Under the window 3rd from left is Thomas Cranmer who wrote the 42 Articles in 1552.

I assume, that Millais took reference to the 16th century painting. He may have tried an elegant way of masterfully camouflaged cultural criticism (related to church history), and the painting did stir up a debate, which also made the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood known to the wider public. Its critics (e.g. Charles Dickens, complaining about the red haired Christ), however, were barking up the wrong tree. If they would have discovered the clues which Millais provided to them, the critique probably would have been much fiercer. However, Millais was cautious: The clues would not have provided an obvious enough evidence to blame him. In a similar way, Henry Holiday managed to hint to both paintings and yet to maintain the required deniability of any hidden relations to the paintings at the same time.

Henry Holiday probably chose the artist's way to comment cautiously on an artist's cautious communication. Holiday took reference to both paintings when he illustrated Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" (see also artpop.snrk.de)

193 "A dear uncle of mine (after whom I was named)
194 Remarked, when I bade him farewell--"
195 "Oh, skip your dear uncle!" the Bellman exclaimed,
196 As he angrily tingled his bell.

197 "He remarked to me then," said that mildest of men,
198 " 'If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
199 Fetch it home by all means--you may serve it with greens,
200 And it's handy for striking a light.

201 " 'You may seek it with thimbles--and seek it with care;
202 You may hunt it with forks and hope;
203 You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
204 You may charm it with smiles and soap--' "

209 " 'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
210 If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
211 You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
212 And never be met with again!'

221 "I engage with the Snark--every night after dark--
222 In a dreamy delirious fight:
223 I serve it with greens in those shadowy scenes,
224 And I use it for striking a light:

225 "But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day,
226 In a moment (of this I am sure),
227 I shall softly and suddenly vanish away--
228 And the notion I cannot endure!"

In my view, "The Hunting of the Snark" is not a nonsense poem. One major issue addressed by Henry Holiday and Lewis Carroll probably is thruth seeking by means of the legitimate dispute (Snark) concerning questions of faith, which then too often turned into over-zealous violence yielding lies and fanatic delusions (Boojum). This goes as far as e.g. to iconoclasm and even the burning of dissenters.

By the way: The presently printed versions of Millais' painting often are based on photos of an reproduction by Rebecca Solomon. She did that in 1863 under the guidance of Millais in his studio. Alledgedly, Millais' himself overpainted some parts of that reproduction.

Links:
www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=9523
www.victorianart.btinternet.co.uk/va-web/pre-raphaelites/...
www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Christ_in_the_House_of_H...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_In_The_House_Of_His_Parents

Literature on Millais' painting:
Deborah Mary Kerr (1986): John Everett Millais's Christ in the house of his parents (circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/26546)
p.34 in (01) Éva Péteri (2003): Victorian Approaches to Religion as Reflected in the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites, Budapest 2003, ISBN 978-9630580380 (shortlink: www.snrk.de/EvaPeteri.htm)
Albert Boime (2008): Art in an Age of Civil Struggle, 1848-1871
p. 225-364: The Pre-Raphaelites and the 1848 Revolution (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0226063283)

Taken on: June 17, 2010

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