The Love of James the First, of Scotland (sometimes styled as The Love of James I of Scotland) is an 1858–59 oil painting by the English artist John Everett Millais. It shows a woman in a blue gown with a basket of flowers over one arm, reaching up to pass a flower to a hand reaching out from a piercing in the sturdy stone wall of a building.

The painting Millais based the painting on a historical event. King James I of Scotland (1394–1437) was held prisoner in Windsor Castle for some years. Legend had it that he fell in love with Lady Joan Beaufort, who used to walk in the castle garden below his window; his only means of communicating with her was by passing letters and objects through the bars of the grated window.1899. Millais, John Guille. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, Volume 1, p. 333, London: Methuen.

Millais painted the picture during 18581899. Millais, John Guille. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, Volume 1, pp. 333, 361, London: Methuen. and 1859 (signed with his monogram and dated 1859). A wall at "the picturesque old ruin" of Balhousie Castle was used for the wall in the painting.1899. Millais, John Guille. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, Volume 1, p. 333, London: Methuen. A reference photograph was taken, with the model's hand dropping a love-letter from the window. Millais' model for the painting was Miss Eyre, of Kingston, whose sister, Miss Mary Eyre, he also painted the following year as The Bride — a girl with passion flowers in her hair.1899. Millais, John Guille. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, Volume 1, pp. 333, 361, London: Methuen.

In 1859 the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1859, catalogue number 482, alongside Millais' Spring (1856–59) and The Vale of Rest (1858–59).The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais 1899, Millais, John Guille, London: Methuen, vol. 1, p. 332

It was also exhibited in a special Winter Exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, held between January and March 1898, which featured many collected works of the late Millais. It was hung under the title The Love of James I, of Scotland (1859), catalogue number 27. At this time it was owned by Charles Churchill, Esq. In his publication Millais and his Works, With Special Reference to Exhibition at the Royal Academy 1898, Marion Spielmann was not very enthusiastic about the painting:

Its present ownership and location is not in public record.

See also List of paintings by John Everett Millais

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