Portia (Kate Dolan), 1886 by Sir John Everett Millais
Canvas Print - 12323-MJE
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USAOriginal Size: 125.1 x 83.8 cm
Giclée Canvas Print | $50.71 USD
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By using the red up or down arrows, you have the option to proportionally increase or decrease the printed area in inches as per your preference.
*Max printing size: 41.3 x 27.7 in
*Max framing size: Long side up to 28"
"Portia (Kate Dolan)" will be custom-printed for your order using the latest giclée printing technology. This technique ensures that the Canvas Print captures an exceptional level of detail, showcasing vibrant and vivid colors with remarkable clarity.
Our use of the finest quality, fine-textured canvas lends art reproductions a painting-like appearance. Combined with a satin-gloss coating, it delivers exceptional print outcomes, showcasing vivid colors, intricate details, deep blacks, and impeccable contrasts. The canvas structure is also highly compatible with canvas stretching frames, further enhancing its versatility.
To ensure proper stretching of the artwork on the stretcher-bar, we add additional blank borders around the printed area on all sides.
Our printing process utilizes cutting-edge technology and employs the Giclée printmaking method, ensuring exceptional quality. The colors undergo independent verification, guaranteeing a lifespan of over 100 years.
Please note that there are postal restrictions limiting the size of framed prints to a maximum of 28 inches along the longest side of the painting. If you desire a larger art print, we recommend utilizing the services of your local framing studio.
*It is important to mention that the framing option is unavailable for certain paintings, such as those with oval or round shapes.
If you select a frameless art print of "Portia (Kate Dolan)" by Millais, it will be prepared for shipment within 48 hours. However, if you prefer a framed artwork, the printing and framing process will typically require approximately 7-8 days before it is ready to be shipped.
We provide complimentary delivery for up to two unframed (rolled-up) art prints in a single order. Our standard delivery is free and typically takes 10-14 working days to arrive.
For faster shipping, we also offer express DHL shipping, which usually takes 2-4 working days. The cost of express shipping is determined by the weight and volume of the shipment, as well as the delivery destination.
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All unframed art prints are delivered rolled up in secure postal tubes, ensuring their protection during transportation. Framed art prints, on the other hand, are shipped in cardboard packaging with additional corner protectors for added safety.
Painting Information
Standing before Millais' "Portia," we encounter a figure of compelling dramatic presence, her striking red garments commanding immediate attention against the painting's shadowy, atmospheric background. The subject, based on Shakespeare's quick-witted heroine and modeled by Kate Dolan, emerges from darkness with an almost phosphorescent intensity, her flowing vermillion robes suggesting both legal authority and theatrical grandeur.
The painting's chromatic power centers on its masterful deployment of red. This is not a singular red, but rather a sophisticated orchestration of crimson tones – from the deep, almost wine-dark folds of the outer robe to the brighter, more assertive red of the sash at the waist. These variations create a subtle interplay of light and shadow that gives the garment its convincing sense of volume and movement. The golden hair, styled in Pre-Raphaelite fashion, provides the only significant counterpoint to this red dominance, creating a halo-like effect that draws attention to the figure's determined expression.
Millais' technical execution reveals the confident hand of an artist at the height of his powers. The brushwork varies purposefully across the canvas – broad and loose in the background, allowing the atmosphere to remain appropriately ambiguous, while becoming more precise and detailed in the rendering of the face and scroll. This painting, created four decades into his career, shows how far he had evolved from his earlier Pre-Raphaelite precision while retaining that movement's interest in literary subjects and psychological depth.
The composition's strength lies in its bold simplicity. The figure stands in classical contrapposto, the scroll in her hand and the column behind her suggesting the gravitas of legal authority, while her direct gaze and slightly lifted chin convey the intellectual confidence of Shakespeare's heroine. The fact that this work was painted over an earlier version showing the figure in Greek dress seems telling – this is Portia not as classical allegory but as a figure of contemporary female empowerment, reflecting the changing role of women in Victorian society. Through this lens, the red lawyer's robes become not just a costume but a symbol of institutional power traditionally denied to women, making this painting as much a social document as a theatrical portrait.
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