A Huguenot

A Huguenot of 1852, one of the most popular paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy in the nineteenth century, depicts a tender farewell between a Catholic woman and her Protestant (Huguenot) lover on the eve of the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572, in which thousands of French Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs. The woman ties a white armband on the man's arm — a signal worn by Catholics that would save him from the mob — but the man gently removes it, unwilling to disguise his faith even to save his life. The painting reduces one of European history's great religious catastrophes to a single moment of private courage and tender conflict, making the historical tragedy immediate and personal. It was reproduced in engravings that sold in enormous quantities, making the image one of the best-known in Victorian Britain.

Oil on canvas, the painting shows Millais at the height of his Pre-Raphaelite technique: detailed botanical observation of the garden setting, precise rendering of costume and lace, and the clear, luminous colour of the Brotherhood's white-ground method. The figures are painted with close attention to individual characterisation.