John Everett Millais - English

The Tower of Strength

Millais is best known for his rather sentimental figurative works, but he also painted Scottish landscapes. The titles of these paintings evoke poetic references.

The area of white sky creates a dramatic contrast with the promontory. The small area of bright water in the background, draws the eye around the headland to imagine the bay beyond.

The location is Loch Ness, not the sea.

Millais travelled north from Perth after the death of his second son George, staying at Dhivach cottage outside Drumnadrochit. There he produced this painting as an expiation of his grief. The title is taken from Tennyson’s ‘Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington’ and, through the stump-like form of Loch Ness’s ruined Urquhart Castle, he conveys a sense of necessary human resilience in the face of personal tragedy. - Tate Britain