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'A true daughter of ancient Britain': gender and nation in John Everett Millais's The Romans Leaving Britain (1865)

Gilles Weyns (UGent)
(2016) HISTORICA. p.8-14
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Abstract
When John Everett Millais (1829 – 1896) first exhibited his large-format historical painting The Romans Leaving Britain at the Royal Academy in 1865, he sparked a lively debate in the periodical press. The painting, which was based on an earlier drawing he had made in 1853, presented a parting scene between a Roman soldier and a Celtic woman, the soldier kneeling before the woman in a last passionate embrace on a cliff-path overlooking the sea. The dramatic, historical moment was the departure of the Roman legions in the late fourth or early fifth centuries AD. Millais confronted his Victorian public with a man kneeling at the feet of a woman in a close physical contact. Moreover, he depicted a Roman subjecting himself to a native British woman. Such a theme was highly unique in Victorian history painting. This analysis of The Romans Leaving Britain and its critical reception offers a new perspective on Britain’s Celtic ancestors and a reassessment of normative Victorian gender roles.
Keywords
Celtic, Millais, Roman, historical painting, Pre-Raphaelite, gender, nation, Ancient Britons, Victorian, reception studies, RSVP

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Citation

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MLA
Weyns, Gilles. “‘A True Daughter of Ancient Britain’: Gender and Nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865).” HISTORICA, edited by Kirsten Zimmerman, no. 1, Vereniging voor Gendergeschiedenis, 2016, pp. 8–14.
APA
Weyns, G. (2016). “A true daughter of ancient Britain”: gender and nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865). HISTORICA, (1), 8–14.
Chicago author-date
Weyns, Gilles. 2016. “‘A True Daughter of Ancient Britain’: Gender and Nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865).” Edited by Kirsten Zimmerman. HISTORICA, no. 1: 8–14.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Weyns, Gilles. 2016. “‘A True Daughter of Ancient Britain’: Gender and Nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865).” Ed by. Kirsten Zimmerman. HISTORICA (1): 8–14.
Vancouver
1.
Weyns G. “A true daughter of ancient Britain”: gender and nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865). Zimmerman K, editor. HISTORICA. 2016;(1):8–14.
IEEE
[1]
G. Weyns, “‘A true daughter of ancient Britain’: gender and nation in John Everett Millais’s The Romans Leaving Britain (1865),” HISTORICA, no. 1, pp. 8–14, 2016.
@article{7259462,
  abstract     = {{When John Everett Millais (1829 – 1896) first exhibited his large-format historical painting The Romans Leaving Britain at the Royal Academy in 1865, he sparked a lively debate in the periodical press. The painting, which was based on an earlier drawing he had made in 1853, presented a parting scene between a Roman soldier and a Celtic woman, the soldier kneeling before the woman in a last passionate embrace on a cliff-path overlooking the sea. The dramatic, historical moment was the departure of the Roman legions in the late fourth or early fifth centuries AD.  Millais  confronted his Victorian public with a man kneeling at the feet of a woman in a close physical contact. Moreover, he depicted a Roman subjecting himself to a native British woman. Such a theme was highly unique in Victorian history painting. This analysis of The Romans Leaving Britain and its critical reception offers a new perspective on Britain’s Celtic ancestors and a reassessment of normative Victorian gender roles.}},
  articleno    = {{1}},
  author       = {{Weyns, Gilles}},
  editor       = {{Zimmerman, Kirsten}},
  issn         = {{1382-3914}},
  journal      = {{HISTORICA}},
  keywords     = {{Celtic,Millais,Roman,historical painting,Pre-Raphaelite,gender,nation,Ancient Britons,Victorian,reception studies,RSVP}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1:8--1:14}},
  publisher    = {{Vereniging voor Gendergeschiedenis}},
  title        = {{'A true daughter of ancient Britain': gender and nation in John Everett Millais's The Romans Leaving Britain (1865)}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}