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Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jame ...
,
William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism ...
,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
and
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt has been dramatised several times.


Early life

Annie Miller was born in 1835 in a cottage in
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
near the Duke of York public house. Her father Henry had been a soldier in the 14th Dragoons and was wounded in the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
. Her mother was a cleaner. She had a sister Harriet. When her mother died aged thirty-seven they moved in with relatives and her father worked for a local builder. She was working as a barmaid when she attracted the attention of Hunt.


Pre-Raphaelite modelling

Miller was the subject of Hunt's 1853 painting '' The Awakening Conscience'', though the face was later repainted by the artist. Hunt had planned to marry Miller; before he left for Palestine in 1854, he made arrangements for her to be educated while he was away. Hunt also left a list of artists, including Millais, for whom Miller could sit. However, during Hunt's absence and contrary to Hunt's wishes she also sat for
George Price Boyce George Price Boyce (24 September 1826 – 9 February 1897) was a British watercolour painter of landscapes and vernacular architecture in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He was a patron and friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Life Boyce was born in ...
and for Rossetti. For Rossetti she appeared in works such as ''
Dante's Dream ''Dante's Dream'' (full title ''Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice'') is a painting from 1871 by the English Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It hangs in the McManus Art Gallery, Dundee, Scotland. He repeated a co ...
'' and ''
Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
''.


Break with Hunt and marriage

Hunt returned from his travels in 1856.
Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painti ...
described Annie as 'siren-like' and her connection with Rossetti caused a rift between Rossetti and Hunt.GH Fleming, ''That Ne'er Shall Meet Again: Rossetti, Millais, Hunt'', 1971, Michael Joseph, pp. 132–4. Annie became involved with the seventh Viscount Ranelagh even though Hunt proposed to her. As a result, Hunt finally broke off the engagement in 1859. Thereafter Boyce and Rossetti competed for sittings with her with Rossetti usually winning, though this caused Rossetti's wife
Elizabeth Siddal Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall (25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862), better known as Elizabeth Siddal, was an English artist, poet, and artists' model. Significant collections of her artworks can be found at Wightwick Manor and the Ashmolean. Sidd ...
on one occasion to throw his drawings of Annie out of the window. After Hunt broke off the engagement, Annie sought help from Ranelagh, who suggested to her that she should sue Hunt for
breach of promise Breach of promise is a common law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. It was also called breach of contract to marry,N.Y. Civil Rights Act article 8, §§ 80-A to 84. and the remedy awarded was known as heart balm. From at least the Middle ...
, but eventually Ranelagh's first cousin, Captain Thomas Thomson, fell in love with her. On 16 June 1862 Boyce saw her at the
International Exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
"looking as handsome as ever, walking with a young man, rather a swell". This was probably Thomson. They married on 23 July 1863 at St Pancras Church. Thomson then suggested that they threaten to give Annie's trunk full of letters from Hunt to the newspapers. This would embarrass Hunt's family and the Waughs, his in-laws. Hunt's friends assumed that he bought back the letters. Whether or not Miller had a sexual relationship with any of her admirers before her marriage is not known. Gordon H. Fleming asserts that Ranelagh admitted to Hunt that Miller had been his mistress, but according to Jan Marsh, this might not have been the case. Marsh says that "she was undoubtedly lively, attractive and even flirtatious" and there was gossip about her relationship to Hunt. However, Marsh goes on to assert that "it may be hard to believe that she could have succeeded without the judicial use of sexual favours – to Hunt, Rossetti, Ranelagh, Thomson and maybe others – but there is no evidence to prove that she did and much, from her relationship with Hunt, to suggest her reluctance to become '
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
'. It seems to me quite possible that she remained 'pure'."


Later life

On 11 October 1866 she gave birth to a daughter, Annie Helen, at Montrose House in Hampstead. In 1867 she gave birth to a son, Thomas James.Notes on No18 Kensington Gore, Holman Hunt's house
/ref> She is not thought to have had more children, but years later Hunt encountered her on Richmond Hill, "a buxom matron with a carriage full of children" and learned that she was happily married. Annie's husband died aged 87, at 6 Western Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, in 1916. Annie Miller lived for another 6 years after her husband's death, dying aged 90 in 1925. The family probably moved to Shoreham-by-Sea to be near a Thomson aunt, a Miss Sturges.


Dramatic portrayals

Annie Miller was played by Caroline Coon in
Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...
's film ''
Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, gui ...
'' (1967). In ''
The Love School ''The Love School'' (broadcast in the U.S. as ''The Brotherhood'') is a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 1975 about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by John Hale, Ray Lawler, Robin Chapman and John Prebble. It was direc ...
'' (1975) she was portrayed by Sheila White. Julie Cox voiced her role in
Robin Brooks Robin Brooks (born 1961 in Leeds) is a British radio dramatist, some-time actor and author. Selected credits Adaptations * 2000 – '' The Art of Love'', a comedy, emphasizing Ovid's role as lover, with Bill Nighy and Anne-Marie Duff * 2004 – ...
's trilogy of radio plays ''The Golden Triangle'' (1998). In ''
Desperate Romantics ''Desperate Romantics'' is a six-part television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, first broadcast on BBC Two between 21 July and 25 August 2009. The series somewhat fictionalised the lives and events depicted. Though heavily ...
'' (2009) she was played by
Jennie Jacques Jennie Jacques is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC Two drama '' Desperate Romantics'' (2009), the police procedural '' WPC 56'' (2013–2014), and the History Channel series ''Vikings'' (2015–2019). Early life Jacqu ...
. In the latter two dramatisations, she is depicted as a prostitute.


References


External links


Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery's Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource



Biography from Christies



Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Annie English artists' models Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artists' models Women of the Victorian era 1835 births 1925 deaths People from Chelsea, London