Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt

Sitterback to top

• Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt (1829-1896), Painter and President of the Royal Academy. Sitter associated with 69 portraits, Artist associated with 39 portraits.

Artistback to top

• David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887), Painter and photographer. Artist associated with 34 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Alongside his immediate colleagues, Wynfield photographed key members of the wider artistic community, including the leading Pre-Raphaelite artists, Millais and Holman Hunt. His portrait of Millais in the role of Dante, seen here, was particularly convincing. Yet, in the words of the contemporary critic Tom Taylor, in time, the 'masquerade character' of the works created unease about their documentary worth, which obscured their serious agenda. However, a recent reassessment of Wynfield's body of photographs has rediscovered their ideological purpose. This new appraisal indicates how together they communicate a sense of bohemian solidarity, while celebrating in literal terms a shared artistic ethos that proclaims the Victorian artists' empathy with their historical forebears.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Hacking, Juliet, Princes of Victorian Bohemia: Photographs by David Wilkie Wynfield, 2000 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 28 February to 14 May 2000), p. 69
• Marsh, Jan, Insights: The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2005, p. 34
• Rogers, Malcolm, Camera Portraits, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), p. 67
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 430

Portrait setback to top

• Victorian artists: photographs by David Wilkie Wynfield, 1860s

Subjects & Themesback to top

• Hats and head-attire
• In profile
• On display at the Gallery