“The Martyr of the Solway”
Here is a gorgeous piece from John Everett Millais.
“The Martyr of Solway” is an oil on canvas painting from circa 1871 by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist, John Everett Millais. This painting depicts Margaret Wilson, a young Scottish woman who became a martyr.
In 1685, Margaret Wilson, then 18, and Margaret Maclauchlan, about 63, were informed on for their religion. They were Scottish Covenanters who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland to rule over religious and political affairs. The two Margarets, as they came to be known, were imprisoned, then executed as rebels for their refusal to acknowledge James VII as the rightful head of the Church of Scotland. James VII was Catholic, and many feared a Catholic dynasty. They were sentenced to be chained to stakes in the mudflats within the tidal channel, to be drowned with the incoming tide.
The Wigtown Martyrs were meant to be an example to the rebels in southwest Scotland. They are one of the many persecutions that the Scots endured under the reign of the Stuart monarchy. In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, James VII was deposed and replaced by his daughter, Mary II, and her husband, William III.
Millais depicts Margaret Wilson with a metal chain tied around her waist and her hands behind her back. She is attached to a wooden post. Her head is turned towards her left and her eyes are downcast as she awaits her fate. She has long, gorgeous, red wavy hair. She is wearing a peach shirt with a decorative dotted pattern, and a skirt in Scottish tartan colors. The sea is moving in the background, with visible waves approaching where Margaret awaits.
Margaret Wilson’s death on that day in May of 1685 drew a lot of attention because of her religious zeal at such a youthful age. She caught the attention of Millais, who created several pieces depicting her last moments. He first drew her in 1862, for an image he published in Once a Week, a British illustrated literary magazine. In that drawing, Margaret Wilson is drawn at the stake in the sea, in a similar pose to the 1871 painting. Seagulls are in the sky, a ship is in the background, and her feet are visible in the water which has risen to the bottom of her dress.
In 1875, Margaret was painted again, this time by the Pre-Raphaelite artist, John William Waterhouse in “Margaret, Scottish Martyr”.
“The Martyr of the Solway” is currently on display at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England.
For more on John Everett Millais, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
