The Boyhood of Raleigh
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''The Boyhood of Raleigh'' is an 1870 painting by
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 ...
in the collection of the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. In the painting, Millais depicts famed Elizabethan-era explorer
Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...
and his brother on the
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
shire coast listening to a Genoese sailor pointing out to sea and telling the pair of "tales of wonder on sea and land". Inspired by an essay written by historian
James Anthony Froude James Anthony Froude ( ; 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of '' Fraser's Magazine''. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clerg ...
, the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1871. Quickly receiving acclaim, it went on to be the subject of parody by numerous 20th century
political cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...
s and album covers.


Origins

The painting was inspired by an essay written by
James Anthony Froude James Anthony Froude ( ; 23 April 1818 – 20 October 1894) was an English historian, novelist, biographer, and editor of '' Fraser's Magazine''. From his upbringing amidst the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement, Froude intended to become a clerg ...
on ''England's Forgotten Worthies'', which described the lives of Elizabethan seafarers. It was also probably influenced by a contemporaneous biography of Raleigh, which imagined his experiences listening to old sailors as a boy. Millais travelled to
Budleigh Salterton Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...
to paint the location. Millais's sons Everett and George modelled for the boys. The sailor was a professional model.J.G. Millais, ''The Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais'', vol 2, pp. 17-19. Millais' friend and biographer, the critic
Marion Spielmann Marion Harry Alexander Spielmann (London, 22 May 1858 – 1948) was a prolific Victorian art critic and scholar who was the editor of '' The Connoisseur'' and ''Magazine of Art''. Among his voluminous output, he wrote a history of ''Punch'', ...
, stated that he was intended to be Genoese. He also argues that the sailor is pointing south towards the "
Spanish main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...
".


Literary and satirical use


Cartoons

The painting has been parodied many times in political cartoons. In 1928, New Zealand cartoonist David Low published a political cartoon showing the
Earl of Birkenhead Earl of Birkenhead was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1922 for the noted lawyer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, F. E. Smith, 1st Viscount Birkenhead. He w ...
(the incumbent
Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
), Stanley Baldwin (the incumbent
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
) and
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
(the incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer) listening to "Tales of the Dominions" from
Leo Amery Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery, (22 November 1873 – 16 September 1955), also known as L. S. Amery, was a British Conservative Party politician and journalist. During his career, he was known for his interest in military preparedness, ...
(the incumbent Colonial Secretary). In 1993 the ''Sunday Telegraph'' ran "The Boyhood of Hurd and Major". The then Prime Minister John Major and Foreign Secretary
Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to P ...
, who had recently pushed the Maastricht Treaty through Parliament against the wishes of many Conservatives, were shown as small boys in Elizabethan costume, listening as an old sailor ( Sir Edward Heath) gestured towards the coast labelled "Europe" visible on the other side of the water. Former Prime Minister Heath – whose hobby had been yachting – had taken Britain into the EEC (as it was then called) during his premiership, and had grown up in Kent where the coast of France is visible on a clear day. At the time Heath was
Father of the House of Commons Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...
and enjoying something of an Indian Summer after the ousting of his political nemesis, the eurosceptic
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
, as Prime Minister in 1990. In 1999 the ''Daily Telegraph'' published a Garland cartoon, showing the then Conservative leader William Hague as a small boy (this was common in satire at the time, as Hague had first attained national fame as a teenager in the 1970s), while two old sailors – former Foreign Secretary David Owen and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey – gestured inland and away from a ship labelled "Euro". The two elder statesmen described themselves as pro-European but opposed to British membership of the Single Currency.


Postcolonialism

The picture has also appeared in recent explorations of postcolonialism, most notably
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
's novel ''
Midnight's Children ''Midnight's Children'' is a 1981 novel by Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie, published by Jonathan Cape with cover design by Bill Botten, about India's transition from British colonial rule to independence and partition. It is a postc ...
'', in which the narrator Saleem Sinai partly misremembers and transforms the meaning of the painting, a copy of which hung on his bedroom wall when he was a child.Neil Ten Kortenaar, "Postcolonial Ekphrasis: Salman Rushdie Gives the Finger Back to the Empire", ''Contemporary Literature'', Vol. 38, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 232-259.


Popular culture

Elements of the picture appear on the cover of the English band
Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles " Talk Talk" (1982), " It's My Life", and " ...
album '' It's My Life''. The painting is also reproduced in part on the cover of the 1982 single "Almost With You/Life Speeds Up" by The Church.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyhood Of Raleigh, The Paintings by John Everett Millais 1870 paintings Cultural depictions of Walter Raleigh Paintings of children Water in art Birds in art