At first glance this appears to be a family portrait complete with realistic details of middle-class English decor. In fact, it is a staged scene of domestic harmony, celebrating the end of the Crimean War.
The father, a wounded officer, holds a copy of the Times announcing the war's end. One daughter clasps his combat medal. On the mother's lap, four animals from the toy Noah's Ark represent the four belligerants: Britain (lion), Russia (bear), the Ottoman Empire (turkey), and France (rooster). The girl at the left holds a dove with an olive branch in its beak, a symbol of peace.
Millais belonged to a group of English painters called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Their work emphasized close observation of nature and the depiction of contemporary events.
cxd
<P>At first glance this appears to be a family portrait complete with realistic details of middle-class English decor. In fact, it is a staged scene of domestic harmony, celebrating the end of the Crimean War.</P><P>The father, a wounded officer, holds a copy of the Times announcing the war's end. One daughter clasps his combat medal. On the mother's lap, four animals from the toy Noah's Ark represent the four belligerants: Britain (lion), Russia (bear), the Ottoman Empire (turkey), and France (rooster). The girl at the left holds a dove with an olive branch in its beak, a symbol of peace.</P><P>Millais belonged to a group of English painters called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Their work emphasized close observation of nature and the depiction of contemporary events. </P>
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