Pencil sketch on pale paper of two figures embracing inside a pointed Gothic arch outline, with loose drapery lines and a faint brown mark at upper right.

Design for a Gothic Arch with Embracing Figures, Graphite Drawing

A pencil study on pale paper shows two figures embracing within the curved outline of a pointed Gothic arch, their heads pressed together. Loose, faint lines sketch drapery and the arch, with a brown mark at upper right. The record names the artist and Effie Ruskin as the embracing pair.

Artist: Sir John Everett Millais
Date: 1853
Medium: Graphite, with touches of pen and brown ink (recto and verso) on ivory paper
Source: Art Institute of Chicago
Size: 843 × 1148 px

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Public domain · Art Institute of Chicago releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1853).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (Art Institute of Chicago, is_public_domain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Art Institute of Chicago, Margaret Day Blake and Sarah R. Shorey endowments

19th century 1850s 1853 line drawing graphite drawing pre-raphaelite pencil sketch art institute of chicago preparatory drawing design study embrace gothic arch