Exploring the Artistry of Sir John Everett Millais, Creator of “Ophelia”

Sir John Everett Millais was one of the most famous artists during the Victorian era and also the cofounder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His works stay very relevant to this very day, especially with the new concept he brought into painting: attention to detail mixed with depth in symbolism. He was born in 1829 in Southampton, England, and already at a young age revealed outstanding talent for art. He gained entrance into the Royal Academy Schools when he was just 11 years old, and this made him one of the youngest ever to be admitted. During the course of his career, Millais became famous for his remarkable ability to delineate nature in great detail and with fidelity and to execute narrative paintings with great skill. His works reflect the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood ideals that sought a return to the almost baroque, detailed style of the early Renaissance, which was in contrast to the more mechanical approach by the academic artists of the time.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) was founded in 1848 by Millais, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti to oppose the artistic standards prevailing then, particularly those upheld by Raphael, against whose influence they felt had degraded the standard of art. Members of PRB looked to the early Renaissance artists for inspiration, creating works which are typically rich in color, full of minute details, and showing accurate representations of the natural world. Of the two, Millais had the more deeply rooted sense of these ideals; his works are at once brilliant in technique and weighted with feeling.

One of Millais’s earliest successes came in 1850 with the painting Christ in the House of His Parents, below, which expressed the Holy Family in a real, working-class situation. The painting caused controversy by its unusual presentation of religious figures, yet it was the beginning of fame for Millais. The way he was able to frame the convention of everyday life in raw beauty, while at the same time giving attention to historical and literary themes, placed him apart from his contemporaries and squarely within the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Transition to a More Popular Style

As his career developed, Millais moved more and more away from the strict Pre-Raphaelite style into a more accessible and commercially successful type of art. This was partly because of the criticism he received for the early works, but it was also influenced by his need to appeal to an audience beyond his academics. Such was not to say he sacrificed quality over appeal in his later works, which still carried the lachrymal abilities of his earlier works and the skill of his hand as a painter.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Millais became one of the most prominent and financially successful artists in Britain. He turned from historical scenery to portraits and was eventually knighted in 1885 for his services to the art world. In 1896, Millais was elected President of the Royal Academy, further cementing his legacy as one of the most important figures in British art.

The “Ophelia” Painting

Among Sir John Everett Millais’ most famous works is the “Ophelia” painting, which was completed between 1851 and 1852. The painting depicts the pitiful figure of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, who drowns in a river after being driven to madness by the actions of Hamlet. The depiction of Ophelia by Millais is renowned for its perfect detail and aspect of unuttered beauty, while the figure floats amidst a bounty of flowers and foliage. He famously painted the background plein-air by the Hogsmill River, capturing every plant, every leaf, every ripple in the water with extraordinary precision. For the figure of Ophelia, Millais used model Elizabeth Siddal, who posed for hours in a bathtub of water to achieve the effect he wanted. It is not only a masterpiece of the Pre-Raphaelite movement but one of the icons of British art history, considered for its technical brilliance and emotive force.

Portraiture and Late Career Success

In later years, Millais devoted himself to making portraits-creating a whole procession of the most valued; with them, he could easily reveal the peculiarities of his model’s personality and character. His portraits were in demand among the British aristocracy; he was also commissioned to paint Prime Minister William Gladstone and the writer Thomas Carlyle. These works were remarkable in their realism since Millais approached each portrait with the same attention to detail and technical skill that defined his earlier narrative paintings.

Millais did some other works later in his life that dealt with landscapes and rural sceneries. Where versatility was concerned, Millais worked on a wide range of themes that helped him be recognized as one of the masters of British painting. While there are indeed critics who would argue that the later works no longer had the same radical energy as those in the Pre-Raphaelite pieces, Millais’ technical and emotional sensitivity remained at the same level throughout his lifetime.

Legacy of Sir John Everett Millais

The name Sir John Everett Millais is synonymous with some of the most indelible marks on the world of art. Being one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he was very much involved in shaping the direction taken by 19th-century British art, influencing future generations by his emphasis on realism, nature, and symbolism. Among these, “Ophelia” is arguably considered one of the most famous and reproduced paintings in the world; it continues to capture the imagination of art lovers and scholars alike.

Besides his work with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Millais’s later career as a portraitist and president of the Royal Academy cemented his status as one of Britain’s most important artists. That he could change and grow as an artist while remaining true to his commitment to excellence in technique is testimony to his enduring legacy in the art world.

Millais died in 1896, bequeathing to an already fascinated world a legacy of innovation and loveliness that still resounds down the corridors of art history. Today, his works may be found in the greatest museums and collections worldwide, joined in common admiration for exquisite detail and emotional depth.