The Proscribed Royalist, 1651 (1852–1853) is a painting by John Everett Millais which depicts a young Puritan woman protecting a fleeing Royalist after the Battle of Worcester in 1651, the decisive defeat of Charles II by Oliver Cromwell. The Royalist is hiding in a hollow tree, a reference to a famous incident in which Charles himself hid in a tree to escape from his pursuers. Millais was also influenced by Vincenzo Bellini's 1835 opera I Puritani.Jason Rosenfeld, John Everett Millais, Phaidon Press Ltd., 2012, pp. 70–1, 73–4, 88, 102, 111–12, 192.
His friend and fellow painter, Arthur Hughes, served as the model for the Royalist.
Millais painted the picture in Hayes, Kent, from a local oak tree that became known as the Millais Oak.Millais, J.G., Life and Letters of Sir John Everett Millais, vol. 1, p.166; See also Arborecology, containing a photograph of the Millais oak
See also Proscription List of paintings by John Everett Millais
Notes