St Agnes of Intercession 1850

Sir John Everett Millais made this pen and ink drawing, called “St Agnes of Intercession”, at an unknown date. It depicts an artist painting a woman sitting up in bed, with two other women sitting near her. Drawn in England, it reflects the mid-Victorian era, where social class and the roles of women were undergoing significant changes. Millais was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group that challenged the artistic conventions of the Royal Academy. He has here departed from traditional portraiture and the expectation that women were painted either for their beauty or for their connection to mythology and the bible. Instead, he focuses on the interior life and the social connections of his sitters. To fully understand the drawing, one could consult biographies of Millais, studies of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and social histories of Victorian England, which can provide valuable insights into the cultural and institutional contexts that shaped Millais' work.