Sir John Everett Millais - The Lost Piece of Silver published 1864

In his letters Millais continually praised the engravers who worked for the Dalziels. He was particularly pleased with this image and wrote that it had been ‘splendidly cut’.

However Millais’s designs for the Parables were frequently criticised for combining modern and historical elements. Although set two thousand years ago, the woman (modelled by Millais’s wife, Effie) is dressedin contemporary costume. She is shown reaching for a lost coin which is a metaphor for God’s rejoicing at the repentance of a sinner.