Portrait of Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, PRA, 1886

Frank Holl RA (1845 - 1888)

RA Collection: Art

By 1886 Frank Holl and J.E. Millais had become the most successful portrait painters of their age, so it was particularly fitting that Holl should choose to paint a portrait of Millais as his Diploma Work.

Holl was renowned for his portraits of the great men of the day, including W.E. Gladstone, John Tenniel and Joseph Chamberlain.

Holl has painted Millais in the latter’s studio, thereby enabling Millais to work as he sat. However there is no incidental detail in the background, as this portrait typically concentrates on essentials in order to capture a true likeness. The sombre tones of Holl’s painting reveal the influence of Velázquez and Rembrandt, both of whom he greatly admired.