17th March 2014
On a recent visit to The Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight, I saw the JE Millais painting, The Black Brunswickers. It was painted by John Everett Millais in 1860. The scene is very sad, as the couple are parting on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. The man is opening the door to leave and the woman is attempting to hold the door so that he cannot go.
The woman in the painting was modelled by Kate Dickens, the daughter of Charles Dickens and due to the ideals of modesty of the time, a dummy was used to represent the male figure so that her respectability could not be compromised.
The satin dress has been painted so beautifully that it looks like a photograph.
Posted in William Morris by Laura