The marriage of Sir John Everett Millais is often talked about due to its scintillating details. The marriage itself was not scandalous, Millais and his wife Effie seem to have had a happy life together. But the fact that prior to her marriage, Effie was married to critic John Ruskin is a source of infinite discussion and speculation. Their marriage…
-
-
Pre-Raphaelite Marriage: Ruskin, Effie and Millais
John Ruskin was an an author, art critic, and social reformer who was an early champion of Pre-Raphaelite ideals. Interestingly, he was also the patron who supported the work of Elizabeth Siddal. His marriage to Euphemia Chalmers Gray, known as Effie, is universally described as a disaster. The story goes that Ruskin rejected Effie on their wedding night on the premise…
-
Pre-Raphaelite Marriages: Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal
I’ve spent years reading about the relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal. One thing I’ve noticed through comments and emails I receive at lizziesiddal.com is that there are a lot of people who are so sympathetic towards Lizzie that they passionately hate Rossetti. When you learn about people, I think a story forms in your head and it’s…
-
Pre-Raphaelite Marriage
There has been a lot of talk about Emma Thompson’s new movie Effie, which covers the sad and unusual marriage of Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his wife Effie, who scandalously divorced him to marry Pre-Raphaelite artist John Millais. Ruskin and Effie were married for several years before she divorced him, and when they divorced she was still a…