Portia (Kate Dolan), 1886 Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Sir John Everett Millais also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Portia (Kate Dolan) is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

Swathed in rich, scarlet hues that cascade from her shoulders, the figure of Portia commands attention with a presence both theatrical and regal. Sir John Everett Millais imbues this Shakespearean heroine with a quiet intensity, her gaze subtly distant, as if lost in contemplation of the weighty task that lies before her. The sitter, Kate Dolan, poses in the costume famously worn by Ellen Terry, adding an extra layer of performative drama to this portrayal. The rolled legal document clutched in her hand is more than a prop - it is an anchor, tethering this luminous figure to her decisive moment in "The Merchant of Venice."

Millais's color palette, dominated by crimson, is strikingly symbolic. The flowing robes, rendered with meticulous detail, suggest not just Portia's intellect and courage but also the fiery passion underpinning her resolve. The deep reds are offset by the muted background - an atmospheric haze of earthy tones that lends the composition an almost dreamlike quality. The subdued setting further accentuates the vibrancy of the figure, isolating Portia as the unchallenged focal point.

Technique is paramount here. Millais, forty years into a celebrated career, wields his brush with consummate precision. The folds of fabric, shimmering with subtle highlights, seem tangible enough to touch, while the soft curls of her hair are rendered with a delicacy that borders on photographic realism. Yet, this is no dry exercise in verisimilitude. The visible traces of earlier brushwork, uncovered by X-rays, hint at a restlessness beneath Millais's surface perfection - an artist forever refining, forever striving for something more profound.

The composition is a masterclass in balance and movement. Portia’s stance, slightly angled, draws the viewer’s eye upward from the scroll to her poised hand, and finally to her contemplative expression. The columns in the background evoke the grandeur of the Venetian court, while their blurred rendering keeps the focus firmly on the figure. Millais positions her not merely as a character but as an emblem of intellect and agency - a rare portrayal of a woman in command, in a Victorian context.

Layered with historical resonance and Shakespearean drama, this painting transcends mere illustration. It reflects Millais's journey from Pre-Raphaelite firebrand to Victorian stalwart, bridging the worlds of literature, theatre, and visual art with a grace that belies its complex underpinnings.