William Holman Hunt - Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus

1851.

The first picture Holman Hunt exhibited, inspired by the Shakespeare play, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Following the PRB principles, most of the landscape as painted out in nature in Surrey.

The model for 'Sylvia' was Elizabeth Siddal.

Oil on canvas
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham

The Victorian public hailed this a 'masterpiece' and it won first prize at the Liverpool Autumn exhibition of 1851. The picture is based on Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona.