Millais, John Everett (1829-1896)
A Souvenir of Velazquez
1868
Oil on canvas, 102.7 x 82.4 cm
Royal Academy of Arts, London
The expressionistic brushwork and broad colouring of Millais‘s diploma work contrasts with the restrained naturalism of his earlier Pre-Raphaelite paintings. This work was inspired by Velazquez‘s mid 17th century portraits of the Infanta Maria Margarita. Throughout his career Millais painted children to provoke meditations on transience, beauty and truth. By the late 1860‘s, this painterly concern with mood and memory corresponded with the ideals of the emerging Aesthetic movement. (RA)
See also:
• Velázquez, Diego (1599-1660)