A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day, Refusing to Shield Himself from Danger
1852
Millais is one of the most important founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement and his paintings are the most iconic of the movement, after Rossetti's. Gifted from youth, Millais joined the Royal Academy schools at the age of 11, and went on to win all the academy prizes. It was in the Academy that he met both Rossetti and Hunt. As a painter, he was known for using religion in controversial ways, as in the painting above, Millais exposes love breaking as a Catholic token is refused a French Protestant. Millais's art's beauty lay in his ability to display in a romantic background emotions as complex as disappointment; I think that ability makes his fanciful images seem very possible.
Ophelia
1851-1852
Bubbles
1886
The Knight Errant
1870
Mariana in the Moated Grange
1850-1851
Joan of Arc
1865
