The Last of England

 'The educated are bound to their country by quite other ties than the illiterate man, whose chief consideration is food and physical comfort"

Ford Madox Brown

1855

Oil on Canvas

The idea of painting the theme of emigration first struck Brown when he went to Gravesend to bid farewell to his fellow Pre-Raphaelite, Thomas Woolner, who was emigrating to Australia. "The Last of England" focuses on the tragedy of the exiled  middle class.Brpwn went through great agony painting this picture, modeling with his wife in all weather, even snow. The Pre-Raphaelite focus on minute detail is evident in this painting, so much that it took Brown four weeks to complete just the ribbon on the woman's bonnet.