Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
William Henry Millais was closely associated with the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He sketched extensively from nature in the early 1850s. Here, Millais painted a sequestered landscape of rough-hewn steps ascending a shady slope. A smattering of light pierces a dense canopy of trees, allowing little to flourish except for the foxgloves that adorn the foreground. Ivy growing on the hillside, a decaying stump, and moss-covered steps suggest the passage of time.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
170718
label
Steps in a Garden
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
170718
contentType
drawing
title
Steps in a Garden
description
William Henry Millais was closely associated with the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He sketched extensively from nature in the early 1850s. Here, Millais painted a sequestered landscape of rough-hewn steps ascending a shady slope. A smattering of light pierces a dense canopy of trees, allowing little to flourish except for the foxgloves that adorn the foreground. Ivy growing on the hillside, a decaying stump, and moss-covered steps suggest the passage of time.
date
1860
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80079804
creators
60590
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 33.8 x 26 cm (13 5/16 x 10 1/4 in.); Secondary Support: 39 x 32.4 cm (15 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.)
cul
England, 19th century
accession
2013.24
Source extras
tec
watercolor and gouache with scratch-away technique to create highlights on sturdy-weight wove paper mounted to same by artist with color tests in margins of mount
tombstone
Steps in a Garden, 1860. William Henry Millais (British, 1828–1899). Watercolor and gouache with scratch-away technique to create highlights on sturdy-weight wove paper mounted to same by artist with color tests in margins of mount; sheet: 33.8 x 26 cm (13 5/16 x 10 1/4 in.); secondary support: 39 x 32.4 cm (15 3/8 x 12 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz, 2013.240
supportMaterials
description
sturdy-weight, moderately textured, wove paper
collection
DR - British
inscriptions
inscription
initialed, in orange paint over purple paint, at lower left: WHM; inscribed, in purple paint, at lower left: 1860
didYouKnow
William Henry Millais's brother John Everett was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and encouraged the older artist to pursue landscape as a subject.
citations
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 112-3, 147, no. 37; Reproduced: p. 113
creditline
Gift in memory of Helen Borowitz
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:45:28.808000
sourceId
170718
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
watercolor and gouache with scratch-away technique to create highlights on sturdy-weight wove paper mounted to same by artist with color tests in margins of mount
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
09118fed9c45403d