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Effie Gray (Lady Millais)

1 of 3 portraits by Thomas Richmond

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Effie Gray (Lady Millais)

by Thomas Richmond
oil on board, arched top, 1851
31 7/8 in. x 20 7/8 in. (810 mm x 530 mm)
Given by Dr D.M. McDonald, 1977
Primary Collection
NPG 5160

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Thomas Richmond (1802-1874), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The portrait was commissioned by Ruskin's father and the artist was given £20 in wine for it. After it had been shown at the Academy in 1851, Effie wrote to her mother: '...it is the most lovely piece of oil painting but much prettier than me. I look like a graceful Doll but John and his father are delighted with it'. She is wearing a gold and enamel bracelet brought for her by Ruskin in Geneva when they were on their way to Venice in 1849.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Marsh, Jan, Character Sketches: The Pre-Raphaelites, 1998
  • Marsh, Jan, The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2013, p. 67 Read entry

    'It is the most lovely piece of oil painting, but much prettier than me,' Effie wrote when the portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 'I look like a graceful doll, but John and his father are delighted with it.' When Effie left his son, Mr Ruskin senior, who had paid for the work in wine, deleted her name from the back of the pciture and returned it to the artist.

  • Marsh, Jan, Insights: The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2005, p. 64
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 429

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1851back to top

Current affairs

A population census is taken of all the people living in Britain, recording details about every householder on the night of March 30. This census greatly extends the fields of the 1841 census, being the first to record full details of individuals' birth locations, exact age, marital status, and details of disability, thus making it a valuable tool for demographers and genealogists. The census was made open for public inspection in 1912.

Art and science

The Great Exhibition is held in London,at the Crystal Palace, especially designed by Sir Joseph Paxton. The international exhibition was designed to showcase the best in science, art and industry. it attracted millions of visitors.
Lizzie Siddal poses for John Millais's painting Ophelia.
Hermann von Helmotz invents the ophthalmoscope, making it possible for doctors to examine within a patient's eye.

International

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, President of the French Republic, stages a coup d'état, successfully dissolving the French National Assembly without having the constitutional right to do so. Now the sole ruler of France, he re-establishes universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly and becomes 'Napoléon III, Emperor of the French'.

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