Study for the Head of Ferdinand in ‘Ferdinand Lured by Ariel’ 1849

Curator: Gosh, what strikes me immediately is the wistful expression on his face. He seems almost melancholic. Editor: Indeed. This is a pencil study created in 1849 by Sir John Everett Millais, for the head of Ferdinand in his painting 'Ferdinand Lured by Ariel'. Curator: 'Ferdinand Lured by Ariel'— Shakespeare’s Tempest, right? No wonder he seems haunted! That play bubbles with magic, deception, betrayal. The subtle shading Millais achieves with just pencil is remarkable. Look at the way light catches the planes of his face. Editor: Absolutely. Notice the careful detail in the rendering of his hair, yet the almost ethereal quality of the rest of the sketch. It's a contrast. It really pulls you into the subject’s inner world. We see how Ferdinand is drawn toward an ethereal, perhaps dangerous illusion. Curator: I think you’ve hit it, I’m now thinking that faraway gaze of his tells us more than any fully fleshed-out painting ever could. Studies can feel so intimate. Editor: Millais, along with others, co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood just the year before this study. They often looked to literature for inspiration, finding symbolic and psychological depth within narrative. The choice to fixate upon Ferdinand from the play The Tempest can then easily be understood. Curator: So much raw emotion conveyed with just a few lines, really impressive. Knowing it's a preliminary study kind of illuminates something more potent. Editor: Yes, I find myself drawn to how symbols are born, developed, and layered across a cultural memory; Millais offers such a revealing moment in the creation of such symbolism, which remains vibrant through our continuous retelling and resignifying. It feels like a privilege to witness. Curator: Agreed. He captured so much with such elegant simplicity. This drawing—it lingers. Editor: Precisely. It stays with us, urging introspection on the lure of beauty and what we stand to lose as a result.