My Second Sermon by Sir John Everett Millais (British, 1829-96), watercolour, Britain, 1864.

Watercolour depicting a girl sleeping in a church pew.

This is a watercolour version of the oil painting Millais exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864. The year before, he had exhibited a painting of his daughter, called Effie after her mother, in her best clothes, sitting upright and attentive in church listening to the preacher's message. It was called My First Sermon. It was a tremendous success, was engraved for a wider audience, and mentioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the annual Royal Academy Banquet as a paradigm of the piety of childhood. Millais, with his young family, was at this time in search of more popular success, and capitalised on the 1863 with this sequel, where the novelty of a church service for a young child has faded. Again, there was a great deal of publicity, and the painting was seen as a warning to preachers to keep their sermons short and to the point.

This watercolour by John Everett Millais (1829-1896) is a version of the oil painting that he exhibited at London’s Royal Academy of Arts in 1864. The year before, Millais had shown a picture of his daughter sitting upright and attentive in church listening to the preacher's message. This was entitled My First Sermon, and it was a tremendous success with the public. Millais capitalised on the success of that painting with this sequel, in which we discover that the novelty of a church service for a young child has waned. The painting was seen as a warning to preachers to keep their sermons short and to the point.

399-1901