Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (1831–1891), 1st Earl Lytton

John Everett Millais's 1876 portrait of Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, 1st Earl Lytton — poet, diplomat, and later Viceroy of India — captures one of the more flamboyant figures of late Victorian public life. Lord Lytton was the son of the novelist Bulwer-Lytton and himself wrote verse under the pseudonym 'Owen Meredith.' By the 1870s Millais had become the most sought-after portrait painter in England, his Pre-Raphaelite early career long behind him and his reputation built on his ability to combine likeness with a quality of presence that his contemporaries found uniquely compelling.

Millais's portrait technique by the 1870s was broad and fluent — paint applied with decisive, confident brushwork that builds form rapidly without laboring. His mastery of tonal values gives the face depth and character, while the loosely handled background and clothing direct attention to the sitter's face and expression.