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(18th and 19th Centuries )
Millais was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphelite Brotherhood in 1848. However, he subsequently abandoned the bright colors and the minute attention to detail associated with the Brotherhood's style of painting for a broader approach. Marrying a Scottish woman, formerly the wife of the critic John Ruskin in 1855, he developed an interest in Scottish subjects. In this scene from the Crimean War (1854-1856), he shows a soldier of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment, the famed Black Watch, reading a letter from home. When this painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1857 (no. 50), Ruskin ridiculed the soldier's immaculate appearance under the circumstances.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Arthur J. Lewis, London [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Charles W. Deschamps [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1880, by purchase [see letter from G. H. Broughton to Deschamps, April 24, 1880]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2010-2011 | 19th Century Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin. |
| 2002-2004 | A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. |
| 1964 | The Pre-Raphaelites. Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/25/1942 | Treatment | coated; other |
| 1/22/1964 | Treatment | loss compensation; other |
| 6/1/1971 | Treatment | cleaned; other |
| 5/20/1991 | Treatment | cleaned; coated; loss compensation; other |
Geographies
United Kingdom, England (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 14 x W: 9 13/16 in. (35.5 x 25 cm); Framed H: 26 1/2 x W: 22 7/8 x D: 5 1/16 in. (67.31 x 58.1 x 12.86 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters, 1880
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.85