The Ransom (Millais painting)
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| The Ransom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | John Everett Millais |
| Year | 1860–62 |
| Type | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 134 cm × 115.9 cm (53 in × 45.6 in) |
| Location | Getty Center, Los Angeles, California |
The Ransom[1] or The Hostage[2] is an 1860–62 oil painting by the English artist John Everett Millais. It shows a fictional scene set in the sixteenth century, where a knight accompanied by his page is paying a ransom to brigands for the return of his two daughters. It is signed with Millais' monogram and dated 1862.[1]
Millais commenced work on The Ransom, together with his painting Trust Me, in the autumn of 1860; it was not finished until the spring of 1862.[3]
Effie Gray, Millais' wife, provided some details about the production of the painting. The model for the head of the knight was originally Millais' friend Major Boothby, but was found unsuitable by Millais, who then used a Mr Miller instead. The body of the knight was drawn from "a gigantic railway guard, appropriately named 'Strong', who was afterwards crushed to death in Perth Station." The page was a youth named Reid; Major McBean of the 92nd Highlanders and a labourer sat for the guards. Miss Helen Petrie modelled for both the girls.[4] Most of the costumes were made by Effie,[5] and the tapestry was painted in an unfinished part of the South Kensington Museum (opened in 1857, now the Victoria and Albert Museum) not far from the artist's home, where it had been hung by a decorator for the artist.[6]
The painting hung in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1862, catalogue number 198, along with Trust Me.[7]
The painting hung in a special Winter Exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, held between January and March 1898, which featured many collected works of the late Millais (catalogue number 30). At the time it was the property of W. Kenrick, Esq., M. P..[8]
The painting was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1972.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 "The Ransom 1860–1862". Getty Center, Los Angeles, California: Getty. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ↑ The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, p. 371
- ↑ The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, pp. 362, 365.
- ↑ The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, pp. 366.
- ↑ The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, pp. 365.
- ↑ The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, pp. 366.
- ↑ The exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts. MDCCCLXII. (1862). The ninety-fourth. London: Royal Academy of Arts. 1862. p. 12. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ↑ Exhibition of Works by the Late Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., President of the Royal Academy (PDF). London: Royal Academy. 1898. p. 15. Retrieved 16 December 2025.