#there's honestly so much interesting stuff to the art in tdt i've only varely scratched the surface!

[a-tiny-sloth]

hi! i was curious about the john everett millais painting you are discussing, so i did a little re-reading and searching and i think the answer to your post's original question is no... but also yes! lol i say this because in cdth, we learn that hennessy's forgeries are not direct copies but rather works in the style of the original artist, so i think the described painting is something that looks like it could be a millais but is not actually a 1:1 match with one specific existing work. i do think the painting you suggested was a reference and is the closest match, based on the subject's posture! im also wondering if millais's painting 'yes or no' was a secondary inspiration; the pose isn't even close to the description, but the woman is titian-haired and holds something more akin to an illustrated card behind her (though it isn't hidden from the viewer). i think this was really fun to think about! i'd love to know if you found any other interesting art-related details in the trilogy. :)

you're of course absolutely right! can't believe this hadn't even crossed my mind! and i think you're right, yes or no and wedding card have to be the main inspiration for the painting, now it finally makes sense why the hair colour is so specific. seems like i've been so focused on finding accurate matches for all the paintings and artists that i couldn't see the forest for the trees!

as for art related details, i think it's very interesting that the first three specific paintings we see copies of at the mclean mansion (so copies that hennessy and the girls did) are madame x and the daughters of edward darley boit by john singer sargent and the sisters by abbott thayer. madame x is narratively super important and compared to both hennessy and jordan over the course of the series - the daughters is also a significant sweetmetal and especially important to jordan, who notably also says her first idea of an original was a painting of the girls in similarly odd poses - the sisters is never mentioned again but still interesting since it portrays two incredibly similar-looking sisters. what i'm saying is, those three paintings show us three different aspects of the hennessys - the big personality who is the center of attention at every party but has many secrets, the group of girls who seem to be in disarray, who seem like they were just accidentally dropped in the same space, and the sisters who are eerily similar yet clearly different - i've yet to fit the fourth painting that's mentioned in the same paragraph, to the unknown british soldier in france, into all this, but yeah. i've got many more tdt art thoughts, but i've already rambled enough!