Peace Concluded
Peace Concluded, 1856 | |
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Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis |
Peace Concluded, 1856 (1856) is a painting by
Subject
There is some evidence that Millais originally intended the painting to be satirical - an attack on pampered officers who were allowed to go home for so-called "urgent private affairs", while ordinary soldiers were forced to live in poor conditions in the Crimea. When the war ended, the satire seemed obsolete, so he changed it to a portrayal of a wounded officer recuperating at home.[3]
The officer is depicted lying with an
The two children have been playing with a wooden box in the form of
In the background is a print by James Heath of
Reception
Ruskin's elaborate praise of the painting emphasised Millais's increasing mastery of colour, which the critic compared to Titian. Other critics were less impressed. An opponent of the Pre-Raphaelites stated that the "coats, hats, trousers" all had more vitality than the people.[8] Some of Millais's Pre-Raphaelite colleagues also disliked the picture.[9] Critics were also befuddled as to the physical and apparent emotional closeness of the parents. "The agroupment [sic] of the two principle (sic) figures, although probable incident, is not easy. We first lost the extremities of the husband and have to look for them beyond the wife, and then the question arises as to what she is seated on--being upheld by a supposition that she occupies a mysterious space at the edge of the sofa.[10]" Upon further research it is possible that part of their closeness represents the closeness of Millais and Gray, as the painting and their first anniversary share the same date. There is evidence that this was not the first time that Millais has inserted his own personal life into one of his paintings.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ Ruskin, John, Academy Notes, 1856, Cook and Wedderburn, Ruskin: Complete Writings, vol 14, pp.56-7
- ^ Tate Britain, Millais, 2007, pp. 108-109
- ^ Hancher, M. (1991), "'Urgent Private Affairs': Millais’s 'Peace Concluded, 1856'", Burlington Magazine, vol. 133, Aug., p. 499.
- ^ "Peace Concluded". World Myths and Legends in Art. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ "Peace Concluded". World Myths and Legends in Art. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ World Myths and Legends in Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts
- JSTOR 884880.
- ^ Young, E. (1857), Pre-Raffaelitism, or a Popular Enquiry into Some Newly Asserted Principles Connected with the Philosophy, Poetry, Religion and Revolution of Art London, p. 240
- ^ "Peace Concluded by Millais: An Important Pre-Raphaelite Painting", The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Shafer, Elaine (1990). "The Order of Release and Peace Concluded: Millais's Reversal of a Victorian Formula". Woman's Art Journal. 11 (2): 33.
- ^ Shafer, Elaine (1990). "The Order of Release and Peace Concluded: Millais's Reversal of a Victorian Formula". Woman's Art Journal. 11 (2): 30–33.