Effie Ruskin, 1853, John Everett MillaisPainted in Glenfinlas for John Ruskin, this small scale and jewel-like image of Effie intent on her stitching, very intimate in its close focus, reflects both Millais's careful and precise style in the early 1850s and his increasingly and intense attention to Mrs Ruskin. During this trip to Scotland, ostensibly to paint the portrait of her husband, Effie became Millais's favourite subject. Due to Ruskin's frequent unavailability and the vagaries of the weather, he turned to sketching her on rocks and painting her indoors. She was a willing and ideal subject, often consumed by the inordinately still activity of stitching. She was also his pupil, taking lessons from him and making a pencil copy of this very picture. In the end, Millais kept the original.
