The Importunate Friend (The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)

Dalziel Brothers|Sir John Everett Millais

1864 · Wood engraving; proof · Drawings and Prints

It took Millais seven years to design twenty images inspired by New Testament Parables for the Dalziel Brothers, and the resulting prints are considered pinnacles of wood engraved illustration. The artist wrote to his publishers, "I can do ordinary drawings as quickly as most men, but these designs can scarcely be regarded in the same light—each Parable I illustrate perhaps a dozen times before I fix [the image]." After completing a design, Millais transferred it to a woodblock coated with "Chinese" white for skilled engravers to carve. Finally, he reviewed proofs, and final adjustments were made before the final printing. The Parable of the Importunate (or Persistent) Friend appears in Luke 11: 5-8, and Millais represents the moment when a neighbor eventually opens his door at midnight to a neighbor who keeps knocking. Pre-Raphaelite ideals shaped the combination of detailed naturalism and down-to-earth imagery to produce a work distinctly different than most religious art of the period.

Artist

Dalziel Brothers|Sir John Everett Millais

Date

1864

Medium

Wood engraving; proof

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1921