"The Escape of a Heretic, 1559" by Sir John Everett Millais, 1857

             In 1559, a heretic woman is on the eve of her execution. Behind her, a friar is gagged with a rosary, in terror. Her lover, dressed as a monk, disguises her with the friar's hooded religious habit and asks her to remain silent. She wears a yellow sambenito, a penitential garment, with a pointed hat of those condemned to burn at the stake lying at her feet, indicating that she was convicted of heresy during the Spanish Inquisition. The lovers plan to escape together.

             The Spanish Inquisition was an institution created at the end of the 15th century, in 1478, by the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, and was not definitively abolished until 1834 — within the lifetimes of some of Millais’s viewers ². Its purpose was to investigate, judge and punish cases of heresy, with the aim of strengthening Catholic orthodoxy in Spain.

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 43 1/16 × 31 1/8 in. (109.3 × 79.1 cm)

Credit Line: Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.

A version of the painting in more vibrant colours.

     References:

(Image's reference) 

1 BENZINE, V. As the Museo de arte de ponce repairs earthquake damage, it’s sending its greatest treasure to the met: ‘flaming June’. Accessible at: <https://news.artnet.com/art-world/flaming-june-met-2168734>. Acessed in: December 4th, 2024.

(Text's reference)

2 MILLAIS, S. J. E. The Escape of a Heretic, 1559. Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc., 1857. Accessible at: <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/888185>. Acessed in: December 4th, 2024.

3 The Escape of a heretic, 1559. Accessible at: <https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-escape-of-a-heretic-1559-sir-john-everett-millais/wwHJ3mPsAnRB-A?hl=en>. Acessed in: December 4th, 2024.

4 @history.mae. The escape of the heretic by Millais. TikTok, December 3rd, 2024. Accessible at: <https://www.tiktok.com/@history.mae/video/7443853943177858360>. Acessed in: December 4th, 2024.