Emma Hill: study for "The Last of England"

Ford Madox Brown

Date: 1852

Materials: Black chalk, with wash 

Portrait of Emma

One of the most direct and appealing of all Pre-Raphaelite portrait drawings, this study of Brown's future wife is a notable result of the artist's hard work on 'The Last of England' in the winter of 1852.

Brown had met Matilda Hill (always known as Emma) by Christmas 1848. She was then nineteen, the daughter of a poor farmer who had migrated to London during the agricultural depression of the 1830s.

Pink complexion

William Rossetti recalled her having "a pink complexion, regular features, and a fine abundance of beautiful yellow hair, the tint of harvest corn".

Although a daughter, Catherine, was born in November 1850, Emma andBrown did not marry until 1853.