The North-West Passage  1874

by John Everett Millais

The north-west passage was the unnavigable sea route round North America which was thought to provide a passage to the East. In time, it became synonymous with failure, adversity and death, with men and ships battling against hopeless odds in a frozen wilderness. Millais painted this picture in 1874 when another English expedition was setting off. Previous representations ...
Size: 
1765 x 2222 mm
Medium: 
Oil on canvas
Credit: 
Courtesy of Tate Britain (Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported))