A Flood

Image credit: Manchester Art Gallery

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A rural landscape submerged under water. In the foreground is a baby in its wooden cradle, carried away by the flood. It appears oblivious to its apparent danger and mesmerized by the glistening droplets of water hanging from the branch of a tree overhead and the small birds sheltering there. Sitting on the baby's floral patchwork coverlet, and peering over the end of the cradle is a black kitten, terrified by its situation and mewing for help. Floating between the head of the cradle and a clump of rushes is a jug. To the left of the composition is a partially submerged haystack, beyond which is a farm house and outbuildings. In the background to the right, a man and woman punt in the direction of the baby across the watery landscape. In his biography of his father, John Guille Millais notes that the Great Sheffield Flood of 1864 was the inspiration for the work.

Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester

Title

A Flood

Date

1870

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 99.3 x W 144.9 cm

Accession number

1891.7

Acquisition method

purchased from Thomas Agnew and Sons Ltd, 1891

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

Signed, in monogram, and dated at right bottom corner: 18 JM 70

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Normally on display at

Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester, Greater Manchester M2 3JL England

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