The Lost Sheep, by William J. Webb(e) (1830-1912[?]. 1864. Left: Oil on canvas. 29 7/8 x 24 inches (76 x 61 cm). Collection of Tameside Museums and Galleries Service: The Astley Cheetham Art Collection, Accession no. ASTAC1932.45. Image courtesy of the Tameside Museums and Galleries Service. Right: The Lost Sheep. Oil on panel. 13 x 9 7/8 inches (33.1 x 25.1 cm). Collection of Manchester Art Gallery, accession no. 1920.94. Image courtesy of Manchester Art Gallery. Both images have been made available on Art UK under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence (CC BY-NC). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Webb(e) exhibited a version of The Lost Sheep at the Royal Academy in 1864, no. 312. It is uncertain which of the two autograph versions of this subject was the one shown there, but since the version now at the Tameside Museum and Galleries is the larger of the two, this makes it the more likely candidate. Both paintings depict a peaceful scene with a weary bearded shepherd trudging alone in a rocky barren wilderness, his eyes downcast, carrying a sheep on his shoulders. He is wearing a red stripped robe with a brown overcoat and a red turban and holds a wooden staff in his right hand. To the right of the figure is a tall thistle plant with prominent thorns. It is early evening and the scene is perfused with the rich glow of light characteristic of this time of day in the Holy Land. The mountains in the far distance are shown in pink tones while the sky is yellow with pink and orange clouds. Once again the scene, depicting shepherd, sheep, and landscape, is painted with Pre-Raphaelite precision
Although no biblical passage was included in the Royal Academy catalogue there can be no doubt this painting was intended to represent Jesus's Parable of the Lost Sheep as told in Luke XV, 1-7 and Matthew XVIII, 10-14. The parable from Luke reads:
And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Contemporary Reviews of the Painting
F.G. Stephens in The Athenaeum felt the picture failed as a work of religious art: "The Lost Sheep (312), by Mr. W. J. Webb, is effectively painted, so far as its background goes, but lacks solidity, both in that portion and in the figure which, bearing a sheep across its shoulder, crosses the front. We can hardly accept this as a scriptural subject, because, although the face has much expression, it is not the kind we seek in representations of Christ" (684). A critic for The Art Journal, however, found this a much more effective religious picture: "W. J .Webb in The Lost Sheep (312), symbolises the Good Shepherd. An Arab, in the wild desert country of Judea, comes upon a lost and weary sheep, which he tenderly bears on his shoulders homewards. The landscape, the rocky foreground, and all other accessories are painted faithfully, and the spirit of the work is serious and earnest" (159).
The Illustrated London News gave this picture its most favourable review, finding it poetical: "W. J. Webb, a young artist from whom much may be expected, has made a very considerable advance during the year … in his 'Lost Sheep'(312), a Syrian shepherd trudging his weary way home at late evening with the strayed sheep across his shoulders, the thorns of the spina christa hanging to the fleeces and the Syrian thistle by the roadside - a poetical picture; a contemporary representation, yet highly suggestive of the scriptural parable" (479).
The review by the critic for The Saturday Review proved interesting, particularly for the fact that Webb is mentioned as having been a student at the Royal Academy Schools and who had been awarded its travelling scholarship. This is the only indication I have come across that Webb could have done part of his training at the Royal Academy Schools, but the archives of the Royal Academy confirm that Webb was never registered as a student there:
A new Orientalist, whose work is more in the style of Lewis [J.F. Lewis] than Mr. Goodall [Frederick Goodall], appears amongst us this year in the person of Mr. Webb, the "Travelling Student" of the Academy. The appointment, which is one of the very few advantages of the kind hitherto open to English artists, had, we believe, been for some time in abeyance. Mr. Webb now gives the Academy good grounds for satisfaction with their measure. He has sent two or three small works, all of them careful and thoughtful, and showing a powerful style in colour united with sound, if not at present striking, draughtsmanship. We take all this as of good omen in a young artist on his probation; it appears to give reason for hoping that Mr. Webb will follow that longer and more complete course of study to which no little of the success of his French contemporaries is owing. The Lost Sheep - an Arab shepherd in striped robe bearing it home to the fold at evening in a mountainous scene like those near Jerusalem - has also, as will be conjectured, that second symbolical sense which an artist working in the Holy Land is naturally inclined to put into his picture. Everything there may, in truth, be said to have a double meaning; so many ancient Scripture texts are brought to mind by the common ways of life, as yet little changed in Syria. The execution of Mr. Webb's work is delicate, and the effect of the sinking sunlight well imagined and rendered; although the colour has not the force and glow which we find in his Shop at Jerusalem. [383]
Bibliography
"Fine Arts. Exhibition of the Royal Academy." The Illustrated London News XLIV (14 May 1864): 479.
The Lost Sheep. Manchester version. Art UK. Web. 1 June 2025.
The Lost Sheep. Art UK. Tameside version. Web. 1 June 2025.
The Royal Academy of 1864." The Saturday Review XVI (21 May 1864): 624-25.
Royal Academy of Arts Art Archive 1848-62. Web. 1 June 2025.
Stephens, Frederic George. "Fine Arts. The Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 1907, (14 May 1864): 682-84.
Created 1 June 2025