26 Works, November 13th. is Byam Shaw's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #234

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)
Love the Conqueror

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

107 famous historical and literary figures are indicated and are represented in the painting, all belonging to the army of the Conqueror Love.

John Byam Liston Shaw (13 November 1872 – 26 January 1919), commonly known as Byam Shaw, was a British painter, illustrator, designer and teacher.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

Omphale, c. 1914

Watercolor and bodycolor

Height: 72.5 cm (28.5 in); Width: 29 cm (11.4 in)

Private collection

Dressed in skin of Nemean lion and holding Hercules' club; the labors of Hercules are in the background

In Greek mythology, Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. In her best-known myth, she is the mistress of the hero Heracles during a year of required servitude, a scenario that offered writers and artists opportunities to explore sexual roles and erotic themes. More on Omphale

John Liston Byam Shaw, British 1872 - 1919

Diana of the Hunt

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, the moon and nature being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was eventually equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy. Diana was worshipped in ancient Roman religion and is revered in Roman Neopaganism and Stregheria. Diana was known to be the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses — along with Minerva and Vesta — who swore never to marry. More on Diane

Shaw was born in Madras; his father, John, was the registrar of the High Court at Madras. The family returned to England in 1878 where they settled in Kensington. He showed early artistic promise, and in 1887 his work was shown to John Everett Millais, who recommended that the 15-year-old should enter the St John's Wood Art School. There, he first met fellow artists Gerald Fenwick Metcalfe (also born in India) and Rex Vicat Cole. He also met Evelyn Pyke-Nott, his future wife, there. From 1890, Shaw studied at the Royal Academy Schools where he won the Armitage Prize in 1892 for his work The Judgement of Solomon.

John Byam Shaw

Goblin Market, c. 1899

Oil on panel

29 x 24 cm.

Private collection

Goblin Market (composed in April 1859 and published in 1862) is a narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. The poem tells the story of Laura and Lizzie who are tempted with fruit by goblin merchants. In a letter to her publisher, Rossetti claimed that the poem, which is interpreted frequently as having features of remarkably sexual imagery, was not meant for children. However, in public Rossetti often stated that the poem was intended for children, and went on to write many children's poems. When the poem appeared in her first volume of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems, it was illustrated by her brother, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. More on Goblin Market

John Byam Shaw

THE LURE

Oil on panel

23 3/4 by 26 1/8 in.60.3 by 66.4 cm

Private collection

Kneeling at the tomb of her deceased husband, a grieving young widow is suddenly interrupted by the impish figure of Love, who mischievously beckons her away from her wifely duty to follow him. While the exact source of the scene is unknown, John Liston Byam Shaw sought artistic inspiration in literature and history and often painted compositions with a clear narrative or underlying moral. More on this painting

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

A Dirge

And All Winds Go Sighing

Oil on canvas

1872 x 1919 cms | 737 x 755 1/2 ins

Private collection

"A Dirge" is a poem composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was published posthumously in 1824 by his wife, Mary Shelley, in the collection Posthumous Poems. The text has been set to music.

The dominant themes of the poem are isolation, loneliness, and death. It is a scene of desolation and despair. The wind moans in a grief that cannot be expressed in words; the rain storm billows in vain; the trees are barren and their branches strain under the unceasing onslaught. A gloom pervades the world. More ob ta Dirge

JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW (BRITISH, 1872-1919)

Ophelia

Watercolour heightened with bodycolour

30 x 25cm (11 13/16 x 9 13/16in)

Private collection

Ophelia is a character in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends up in a state of madness that ultimately leads to her drowning. More on Ophelia

JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW (BRITISH, 1872-1919)

Detail; Ophelia

Watercolour heightened with bodycolour

30 x 25cm (11 13/16 x 9 13/16in)

Private collection

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Arrested Spear, c. 1916

Oil on Canvas

157.50 cm x 183.00 cm

 City Art Gallery, Vancouver

Byam Shaw's most important painting unconnected with the War consisted of his large picture in the Academy of 1916, The Arrested Spear from a scene in Parsifal. It was purchased after his death by the late Lord Leverhulme and presented by him to the City Art Gallery, Vancouver.

Parsifal, hero of Richard Wagner’s opera of the same name, was a knight of the Arthurian Legend, finder of the Holy Grail. The scene portrays Parsifal standing in the garden of the evil magician Klingsor. The Flower Maidens lie at his feet, rejected by his indifference to their temptations. He seizes and holds suspended in mid-air the Sacred Spear, which Klingsor has hurled at him. As Parsifal makes the sign of the cross, Klingsor’s domain falls in ruins. More on this painting

Throughout his career Byam Shaw worked competently in a wide variety of media including oils, watercolour, pastels, pen and ink and deployed techniques such as dyeing and gilding. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and took many of his subjects from the poems of Rossetti. He exhibited frequently at Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell's gallery in New Bond Street, where he had at least five solo exhibitions between 1896 and 1916.

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

The Angel Before Adam

Oil on panel

45.7 x 34.3 cms | 17 3/4 x 13 1/2 ins

Private collection

The Angel offering the fruits of the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Woman, the Man and the Serpent, c. 1911

Oil on canvas

Height: 182.3 cm (71.7 in); Width: 54.1 cm (21.2 in)

Private collection

Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman and the ancestors of all humans. The story of Adam and Eve is central to the belief that YHWH created human beings to live in a paradise on earth, although they fell away from that state and formed the present world full of suffering and injustice. It provides the basis for the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides much of the scriptural basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original Sin, important beliefs in Christianity, although not generally shared by Judaism or Islam. More on Adam and Eve

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Prodigal's Return

Oil on canvas

H 89.5 x W 64 cm

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the parables of Jesus Christ, which he shares it with his disciples, the Pharisees and others.

 

In the story, a father has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance and after wasting his fortune, becomes destitute. He returns home with the intention of begging his father to be made one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. The father welcomes him back and celebrates his return. The older son refuses to participate. The father reminds the older son that one day he will inherit everything. But, they should still celebrate the return of the younger son because he was lost and is now found. More on the prodigal son

John Byam Liston Shaw, 1872-1919

The Judgement of Solomon

'And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have showed myself wise.'

Oil on panel

40 x 25.1 cms | 15 1/2 x 9 3/4 ins

Private collection

The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half. With this strategy, he was able to discern the non-mother as the woman who entirely approved of this proposal, while the actual mother begged that the sword might be sheathed and the child committed to the care of her rival. Some consider this approach to justice an archetypal example of an impartial judge displaying wisdom in making a ruling. More on The Judgement of Solomon

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

Jezebel, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

H 148.5 x W 81 cm

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Jezebel (fl. 9th century BCE) was a queen, identified in the Book of Kings as the daughter of Ithobaal I of Sidon and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel.

According to the Hebrew Bible, Jezebel incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and encourage worship of the deities Baal and Asherah instead. Jezebel persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, and fabricated evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his property to King Ahab, causing the landowner to be put to death. For these transgressions against the God and people of Israel, Jezebel met a gruesome death – thrown out of a window by members of her own court retinue, and the flesh of her corpse eaten by stray dogs.

Jezebel became associated with false prophets. In some interpretations, her dressing in finery and putting on makeup led to the association of the use of cosmetics with "painted women" or prostitutes. More on Jezebel

The painting, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896, originally depicted Jezebel nude, flanked by her hand-maidens. The model was Rachel Lee, a close friend of Byam Shaw. Unable to sell the painting, he later reworked it so that the central figure was shown clothed.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

The Greatest of All Heroes is One, c. 1905

I have no further description, at this time

John Byam Shaw

'The Greatest of All Heroes is One

Pencil sketch

48.5 x 74.5cm 

Private collection

Later in his life his popularity as an artist waned, and he turned to teaching for his living. He taught at the Women's Department of King's College London from 1904 and in 1910, with Rex Vicat Cole, he founded the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art later renamed simply the "Byam Shaw School of Art". Evelyn Shaw had an active role in the new school, teaching the miniatures class, her area of expertise. Shaw had had a long association with the artist and illustrator Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, who taught at the new school.

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872-1919)

The Queen of Hearts, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm.)

Private collection

The Queen of Hearts is a picture from the artist’s playful imagination. Its heroine is his fiancée, Evelyn Pyke-Nott, who he was to marry three years after this picture was painted. They met at the Royal Academy schools. Clearly already deeply in love with her, Byam Shaw has presented her as the Queen of Hearts from the children’s nursery rhyme. All gallery visitors at that date would have known this piece of verse, having been raised on the illustrations of Randolph Caldecott. Presented in a frame of the artist’s own design, she steps out from a pack of playing cards, moving forward as if to break through the picture plane. To anchor the narrative further, her sister, the artist Isabel Codrington, holds a plate of jam tarts behind her. More on this painting

John Byam Shaw (British, 1872–1919)

The Queen of Spades , c. 1898

Pencil, watercolour, and bodycolour heightened with gum arabic and with scratching out on paper

178 x 91.5 cm. (70.1 x 36 in.)

Private collection

Executed in 1897-1898 after the success enjoyed with The Queen of Hearts (see lot 5) the previous year it continues to personify the Queens in a pack of playing cards. Sadly the Queens of Clubs and Diamonds were never attempted. As with The Queen of Hearts, the narrative of the nursery rhyme is not closely followed although the spirit of the queen’s character is portrayed. According to cartomancy, (the custom of fortune telling with cards), the Queen of Spades is often personified as a widow who is cold and calculating. More on this painting

Attributed to John Byam Shaw, A.R.W.S., R.I. (1872-1919)

The triumph of love

Oil on canvas

12 x 16 1/3 in. (30.5 x 41.6 cm.)

Private collection

John Byam Shaw (British, 1872–1919)

'Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit...'

Oil on Panel

35.6 x 24.8 cm. (14 x 9.8 in.)

Private collection

1 Corinthians

 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Byam Shaw  (1872–1919)

Rising Spring, c. before 1911

Private collection

Kristina Anapau recreates John Byam Liston Shaw's "Rising Spring"

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Fool Who Would Please Every Man, c. 1903

Oil on canvas

H 98.7 x W 128.6 cm

Laing Art Gallery

The man who wanted to please everyone has ended up making a ridiculous journey. He has the effort of carrying his donkey, and the donkey is uncomfortably tied upside down to a carrying pole. The story was told in the Fables by the ancient Greek writer Aesop.

John Byam Liston Shaw

Boer War (1900–1901), Last Summer Things Were Greener, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

H 101.8 x W 76 cm

Birmingham Museums Trust

The subject is the artist's sister, Margaret Glencairn. She is depicted mourning her cousin George killed in the Boer War, South Africa.

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

Such Is Life, c. 1907

Oil on canvas

H 129.5 x W 174.6 cm

Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries

John Byam Liston Shaw (1872–1919)

The Entrance of Mary I with Princess Elizabeth into London,1553, c. 1910

Oil on canvas

H 205.7 x W 210.8 cm

Parliamentary Art Collection

The original scheme for the East Corridor as set out by the Fine Art Commission in 1847 was very different to how it is today. It was thought to be a good space to illustrate events from before Christianity and after the Revolution. However the scheme was abandoned and it was not until 1907 that renewed interest arose for the east corridor under a new and more liberal government. It was decided that the decoration of this corridor was a priority and the select committee suggested that the Tudor period would be suitable for the illustrated scheme. Individual artists were commissioned to paint each section and to keep visual unity a colour scheme of predominantly black, red and gold was employed and the height of the characters was defined at 1.68m. This illustration depicts Queen Mary I with Princess Elizabeth entering London in 1553. More on this painting

John Byam Liston Shaw (British, 1872-1919)

Cleopatra

Oil on panel

12 x 9 7/8 in. (30.5 x 25.1 cm.)

Private collection

Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 – August 12, 30 BC), was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, briefly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire. More on Cleopatra

At the outbreak of the First World War Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole enlisted in the Artists Rifles although Shaw soon transferred to the Special Constabulary. He produced war cartoons that were published in many newspapers and also found work with memorial commissions. Not long after the war ended, Shaw collapsed and died at age 46 in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic and was interred at Kensal Green Cemetery. His funeral was held at St Barnabas', Addison Road. Years before, he had designed two yellow-hued stained glass windows for this church, depicting Saints Cecilia and Margaret.] An ornate red, green and gilt monument to his life, in a 15th-century style, still stands there. More on Byam Shaw

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17 Works, Today, June 8th. is John Everett Millais' day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #157

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

The Ransom, circa 1860 and circa 1862

Oil on canvas

114.3 × 129.5 cm (45 × 50.9 in)

Getty Center

An armored knight, still in his riding boots and accompanied by his page in mud-splattered stockings, seems to have hastily gotten off his horse to meet for this ransom exchange. The knight’s daughters embrace him while he tries to hand over precious jewels, but their arms are still being held by the kidnapper, whose plainer clothing contrasts with their finery. The page in a blue and white striped ensemble is watching closely and reaches into his purse, sensing that the kidnappers will demand more ransom. These characters—not based on any historical or literary source, but invented by the artist—dramatize a narrative through their expressive gestures and glances. The outcome still seems uncertain and even the dog looks expectantly at the central figures for the resolution of the story. More on this painting

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA (June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was born in Southampton, the son of John William Millais, a wealthy gentleman from an old Jersey family. His mother's family were prosperous saddlers. Considered a child prodigy, he came to London in 1838. He was sent to Sass's Art School, and won a silver medal at the Society of Arts at the age of nine. 

Sir John Everett Millais

The Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the Daughters of Shiloh

Oil on canvas

40¼ x 50⅜ in

Private collection

The subject is from the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. The Tribe of Benjamin, at war with the other tribes of Israel, had been reduced to only 600 men and feared extinction. The Benjamites sought wives, and they planned to ambush a tabernacle feast in Shiloh where young women were dancing in the vineyards: "So they instructed the Benjamites, saying 'Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin'" (Judges 21: 20-21). More on this painting

In 1840 he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools as their youngest ever student, winning a silver medal in 1843 for drawing from the antique, and a gold medal in 1847 for his painting The Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the Daughters of Shiloh (See above). He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1846, with Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) (See below) .

Sir John Everett Millais

Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru, c. 1846

Oil on canvas

height: 128.3cm, width: 171.7cm

 Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The unusual subject of this painting is the capture of the Inca emperor Atahualpa by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1532. As a model for Pizarro, Millais used an actor who had recently appeared in a play of the same name. Millais was only 16 when he painted this work. More on this painting

John Everett Millais

Isabella (also known as Lorenzo and Isabella), c. 1849

Oil on Canvas

103 cm x 142.8 cm

Walker Art Gallery

Isabella, sister of rich Florentine merchants, shares an orange with poor apprentice Lorenzo - their love symbolized by roses, passionflowers and faithful dog.

The orange is a blood-orange. Her three brothers want to increase their fortune by marrying Isabella to a wealthy husband. Lorenzo's in the way. They lean or gesture threateningly towards the couple while the rest of the family, eyes averted, resolutely ignore what's going on. The nearest brother, snarling, explodes with pent-up violence, cracking a nut and kicking the dog.

If you've already seen the Simone Martini painting, you'll remember the bright colours. Millais wanted to achieve a similar effect - also painting on white as medieval artists did to enhance their vibrancy. He exaggerates the medieval lack of spatial depth through harsh, even lighting and distortion, particularly in the cardboard-cutout-like family. To be true to reality he depicts every single object - natural or man-made - with equal precision. The characters are even modeled on real people. The man with the napkin is Millais' father, the man draining his glass is the artist Rossetti. The aggressive brother is probably a fellow Academy student.

What happens next in the story is tha the brothers murder Lorenzo. Finding his body, Isabella cuts off his head and buries it on the verandah, in a pot of basil - watered with her tears. More on this painting

John Everett Millais (1829–1896)

Autumn Leaves, c. 1856

Oil on canvas

H 104.3 x W 74 cm

Manchester Art Gallery

Autumnal garden scene, depicting four melancholy young girls mounding gathered leaves. The two older girls gaze directly at the viewer; they are dressed in identical, dark green dresses with their long hair loose; of this pair, the girl on the left holds a wicker basket from which the second girl removes leaves and adds them to the smouldering pile. To their right are the other two figures: standing in profile to the right with her head turned in three-quarter view is a girl with brilliant red hair, tied into a ponytail, wearing a rust-coloured garment and leaning on a rake, she gazes down at the mound of leaves; the fourth girl, the smallest of the group, stands at the right edge of the composition in three-quarter view to the left, wearing a purple dress with a red necktie, holding in her hand an apple and small posy of blue flowers. More on this painting

Millais's Christ in the House of His Parents (1849–50) (See above) was highly controversial because of its realistic portrayal of a working class Holy Family labouring in a messy carpentry workshop. Later works were also controversial, though less so. Millais achieved popular success with A Huguenot (1851–52) (See below), which depicts a young couple about to be separated because of religious conflicts. He repeated this theme in many later works. 

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

Christ in the House of His Parents or The Carpenter's Shop, c. between 1849 and 1850

Oil on canvas

Height: 86.4 cm (34 in); Width: 139.7 cm (55 in)

Tate Britain 

Depicted people: Jesus, Virgin Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, Saint Anne

This is Millais's first important religious subject, showing a scene from the boyhood of Christ. When it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 it was given no title, but accompanied by a biblical quotation: 'And one shall say unto him, What are those wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.' (Zech. 13:6)

Christian symbolism figures prominently in the picture. The carpenter's triangle on the wall, above Christ's head, symbolises the Holy Trinity. The wood and nails prefigure the crucifixion, as does the blood on the young Christ's hand, which he has cut on a nail, and which drips onto his foot. The young St John is shown fetching a bowl of water with which to bathe the wound. This clearly identifies him as the Baptist, and the image is extended by the white dove perched on the ladder, symbol of the Holy Spirit, which descended from Heaven at the baptism of Christ. More on this painting

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

A Huguenot, c. 1852

Oil on canvas

Height: 92.7 cm (36.5 in); Width: 64.1 cm (25.2 in)

Private collection

A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day, Refusing to Shield Himself from Danger by Wearing the Roman Catholic Badge, is the full, exhibited title, of a painting by John Everett Millais, and was produced at the height of his Pre-Raphaelite period.

The painting depicts a pair of young lovers and is given a dramatic twist because the girl, who is Catholic, is attempting to get her beloved, who is a Protestant, to wear the white armband declaring allegiance to Roman Catholicism. The young man firmly pulls off the armband at the same time that he gently embraces his lover, and stares into her pleading eyes. The incident refers to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre on August 24, 1572, when around 3,000 French Protestants (Huguenots) were murdered in Paris, with around 20,000 massacred across the rest of France. A small number of Protestants escaped from the city through subterfuge by wearing white armbands. More on this painting

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

Ophelia, circa 1851

Oil on canvas

Height: 76.2 cm (30 in); Width: 111.8 cm (44 in)

Tate Britain 

The scene depicted is from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act IV, Scene vii, in which Ophelia, driven out of her mind when her father is murdered by her lover Hamlet, falls into a stream and drowns. 

Shakespeare was a favourite source for Victorian painters, and the tragic-romantic figure of Ophelia from Hamlet was an especially popular subject, featuring regularly in Royal Academy exhibitions. More on this painting

The model for this painting was Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall (25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862), styled and commonly known as Lizzie, an English artist, poet, and artists' model. (Her surname was shortened to Siddal after her marriage to Dante Gabriel Rossetti.) Siddall was an important and influential artist and poet. She was painted and drawn extensively by artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including Walter Deverell, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais (including his notable 1852 painting Ophelia), and her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. More on Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall

All these early works were painted with great attention to detail, often concentrating on the beauty and complexity of the natural world. In paintings such as Ophelia (1851–52) (See above) Millais created dense and elaborate pictorial surfaces based on the integration of naturalistic elements. This approach has been described as a kind of "pictorial eco-system." 

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

Mariana, c. 1851

Oil on mahogany wood

Height: 59.7 cm (23.5 in); Width: 49.5 cm (19.4 in)

Tate Britain 

Tennyson's poem was inspired by the character of Mariana in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Rejected by her fiancé, Angelo, after her dowry was lost in a shipwreck, she leads a lonely existence in a moated grange. She is still in love with Angelo - now Deputy to the Duke of Vienna - and longs to be reunited with him. 

In the picture the autumn leaves mark the passage of time. Mariana has been working at some embroidery and pauses to stretch her back. The stained-glass windows in front of her show the Annunciation, contrasting the Virgin's fulfilment with Mariana's frustration and longing. Millais copied the scene from the window of the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford. However, the heraldic design appears to have been his own invention. The motto 'In coelo quies' means 'In Heaven there is rest' and clearly refers to Mariana's desire to be dead. More on this painting

This style was promoted by the critic John Ruskin, who had defended the Pre-Raphaelites against their critics. Millais's friendship with Ruskin introduced him to Ruskin's wife Effie. Soon after they met, she modelled for his painting The Order of Release (See below). As Millais painted Effie, they fell in love. Despite having been married to Ruskin for several years, Effie was still a virgin. Her parents realised something was wrong and she filed for an annulment. The couple settled in Perth, where he painted Autumn Leaves (1855-6, City of Manchester Art Galleries) (See above).

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

The Order of Release 1746, c. 1853

Oil on canvas

Height: 73.7 cm (29 in); Width: 102.9 cm (40.5 in)

Tate Britain  

Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788) was defeated by the English at Culloden on 16 April 1746 and many of his supporters were imprisoned. The subject of this picture is the release of one of these Jacobite rebels from prison. 

The rebel's wife, supporting their small child and comforting her exhausted, wounded husband, hands an order of release to the gaoler. The expression on her face is inscrutable. She appears strangely detached from the action, and the suggestion is that she may have been forced to sacrifice her virtue in order to save her husband. The picture's original title was The Ransom and early sketches reveal that Millais originally showed a purse of money being handed over. However, in the finished work he substitutes the order of release which gives the painting its current title. The signature on the document is clearly visible as that of Sir Hilgrove Turner, who encouraged Millais's artistic talent from an early age. More on this painting

Between 1855 and 1864 Millais made illustrations for numerous publications, including the Moxon edition of Tennyson's poems (1857), the magazine Once a Week (1859 onwards) and several novels by Trollope. He moved back to London in 1861, where he achieved popular success as a painter of child subjects such as Bubbles (1886, A. & F. Pears Ltd.), which became famous as an advertisement for Pears soap. Also popular were his paintings of beautiful young women, such as Stella (1868, Manchester City Art Gallery) (See below). He built up a practice as a portraitist from the early 1870s, his sitters including Thomas Carlyle (1877) (See below), Lillie Langtry (1878) (See below), Gladstone (1879 and 1885) (See below), Disraeli (1881) (See below) and Tennyson (1881) (See below).

John Everett Millais (1829–1896)

Stella, c. 1868

Oil on canvas

H 112.7 x W 92.1 cm

Manchester Art Gallery

Three-quarter length portrait of a young woman depicted as 'Stella', the subject of Jonathan Swift's 'Journal to Stella', in profile to the right with her face turned to three-quarter view. She has long dark hair, which is tied away from her face with a lace and ribbon cap, a string of coral beads around her neck, and an ivory-coloured dress patterned with bouquets and posies of flowers with half-length sleeves. She is seen standing next to a highly elaborate wooden sideboard with a marble top, a sheet from a letter in her hand (presumably from Swift); before her, on the top of the sideboard, are the other sheets of the letter, a bronze figurine, and a large dark aquamarine-coloured jar. The drawer of the sideboard is slightly open. More on this painting

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt

Thomas Carlyle, c. 1877

Oil on canvas,

46 in. x 34 3/4 in. (1168 mm x 883 mm)

National Portrait Gallery, London

Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) was a Scottish historian, satirical writer, essayist, translator, philosopher, mathematician, and teacher. In his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History (1841), he argued that the actions of the "Great Man" play a key role in history, claiming that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men". Other major works include The French Revolution: A History, 3 vols (1837) and The History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, 6 vols (1858–65). More on Thomas Carlyle

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

A Jersey Lily, portrait of Lillie Langtry, c. 1878

Oil on canvas

Unknown

Emilie Charlotte Langtry (née Le Breton; October 13, 1853 – February 12, 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British-American socialite, actress and producer.

Born on the island of Jersey, upon marrying she moved to London in 1876. Her looks and personality attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses, and she was celebrated as a young woman of great beauty and charm.

By 1881, she had become an actress and starred in many plays in the UK and the United States. In later life she performed "dramatic sketches" in vaudeville. She was also known for her relationships with noblemen, including the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and Prince Louis of Battenberg. She was the subject of widespread public and media interest. More on A Jersey Lily

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt

William Ewart Gladstone, c. 1879

Oil on canvas

49 1/2 in. x 36 in. (1257 mm x 914 mm)

National Portrait Gallery, London

Famous as the ‘grand old man’ of British politics; Gladstone was leader of the Liberal Party and prime minister in four governments from 1868 to 1894. Gladstone was responsible for major reforms in every sphere of national life, and for the development of imperial foreign policy. He divided the party on the issue of Irish Home Rule and stamped his moral authority on the politics of his time. Gladstone’s father, John Gladstone was one of the largest owners of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and this wealth supported Gladstone’s early career in politics. As a politician, Gladstone supported the proposal to compensate slave-owners for the loss of their ‘property’ after slavery was abolished and the introduction of the apprenticeship system that required newly freed Africans to continue working for their masters for four to six years. More on William Ewart Gladstone

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881), c. 1881

Oil on panel

61.0 x 43.6 cm 

The Royal Collection Trust

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield KG PC MP FRS (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician, who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation of the modern Conservative Party, defining its policies and its broad outreach. Disraeli is remembered for his influential voice in world affairs, his political battles with the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, and his one-nation conservatism or "Tory democracy". He made the Conservatives the party most identified with the glory and power of the British Empire. He is the only British prime minister to have been of Jewish birth. He was also a novelist, publishing works of fiction even as prime minister. More on Benjamin Disraeli

Disraeli was seriously ill when Millais was painting this portrait, commissioned by the Fine Art Society, in March 1881. He died in April after only three sittings so the picture was unfinished, but Millais completed it, at Queen Victoria’s command. Millais was sent photographs to assist him with this replica and the Queen judged it ‘a fine picture’. She thought Millais had ‘given the peculiar, intellectual, and gentle expression of his face’ and the painting had for her ‘a peculiar and melancholy interest from being the last portrait her dear and ever-lamented friend and great Minister ever sat for, and when, as it were, the shadow of death was already upon him’. More on this painting

John Everett Millais  (1829–1896)

Lord Alfred Tennyson

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson FRS (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was a British poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in 1830. "Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain some of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although decried by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. More on Alfred Tennyson

Millais was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1853, and a full member in 1863. In 1885 he was created a baronet and in 1896 was elected President of the Royal Academy, but died shortly thereafter in London. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral. More on John Everett Millais

Sir John Everett Millais, Bt 1829–1896

The Knight Errant, c. 1870

Oil paint on canvas

1841 × 1353 mm

Tate

The Knight Errant, when shown at the Royal Academy in 1870, was accompanied by a text of Millais's own invention which was printed in the exhibition catalogue: 'The order of Knights errant was instituted to protect widows and orphans, and to succour maidens in distress.' The moonlit scene apparently depicts an act of medieval chivalry in which one such Knight errant, clad in armour, is on the point of freeing a woman who has been stripped and tied to a tree. The woman's clothes lie on the ground to the left and her molesters, assumed to be robbers, are seen fleeing the scene in the top right corner of the canvas. There is blood on the Knight's sword and the torso of a dead man is visible behind him. More on this painting

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