Millais, Sir John Everett [key], 1829–96, English painter. A prodigy, he began studying at the Royal Academy at the age of 11. In 1848, together with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, he initiated the Pre-Raphaelite movement. His early work shows a painstaking rendering of minute detail and great clarity. His Christ in the Carpenter's Shop (1850; Tate Gall., London) was attacked because of its realism, but his reputation was soon established. He was created a baronet in 1885, and in 1896 he became president of the Royal Academy. John Ruskin was a close friend and champion of his work until 1855 when Millais married Mrs. Ruskin, after the nullification of her marriage. His work is well represented in many British galleries. His Portia is in the Metropolitan Museum.
See biographies by J. G. Millais (1899), M. H. Spielmann (1899), A. L. Baldry (1902), and A. Fisk (1923); S. F. Cooper, Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin, and John Everett Millais (2011).
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