Ferdinand lured by Ariel

John Everett Millais, 1829-96

Ink on paper, dated 1848

Accession number WAG 10364

Presented to the Walker Art Gallery by Miss Sylvia Crawshay, 1983

In this scene, taken from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', the shipwrecked Ferdinand hears the music of the invisible sprite Ariel.

The drawing dates from early 1848, before the foundation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The linearity, the sparing use of shadow and the delicately drawn natural forms seem to herald the new style. This is an independent drawing, not a study, but Millais used the subject for an oil painting the following year in the fully-fledged Pre-Raphaelite style. A sketch for the oil is in the Sudley House collection.

• Read more about Millais's oil sketch of Ferdinand Lured by Ariel, 1849, at Sudley House
• Compare the two versions of Ferdinand Lured by Ariel

In this section

• This is the last artwork in this section.
• Early Pre-Raphaelite drawing style

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