The Hireling Shepherd

William Holman Hunt rendered this moral allegory showing a shepherd neglecting his flock to flirt with a young woman. The sheep wander unattended while the hireling shows her a death's-head moth, symbolic of spiritual danger. Hunt's detailed Pre-Raphaelite detail fills every inch.

The painting criticizes religious leaders who neglect their congregations. Hunt's brilliant sunlight and obsessive botanical accuracy create an almost hallucinatory intensity. Displayed at Manchester Art Gallery.