The Eve of Saint Agnes 1863

Sir John Everett Millais painted this scene, titled The Eve of Saint Agnes, with oils on canvas in the mid-19th century. Here, Millais visualizes a moment from John Keats's poem of the same name, published in 1820. The poem centers on the medieval superstition that a young woman could dream of her future husband if she performed certain rituals on the Eve of Saint Agnes. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, to which Millais belonged, often looked to the past for inspiration, expressing a dissatisfaction with contemporary industrial society. The painting can be read as an examination of the shifting cultural and social norms around love, gender, and faith during the Victorian era. By revisiting medieval folklore through Keats’s romantic verse, Millais offers a visually rich commentary on the evolving notions of femininity, desire, and spirituality in a rapidly changing society. To better understand this painting, you might start with sources on Pre-Raphaelite art, Victorian culture, and the writings of John Keats. Art is always made in a specific time, place, and set of circumstances, and its meaning is dependent on these contexts.