| Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru | |
|---|---|
_-_Pizarro_Seizing_the_Inca_of_Peru_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) | |
| Artist | John Everett Millais |
| Year | 1846 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 128.3 cm × 171.7 cm (50.5 in × 67.6 in) |
| Location | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru is an 1846 history painting by the English artist John Everett Millais.[1] Millais was sixteen when he produced the work, which depicts the seizure of the Incian Emperor Atahualpa by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1532. As his model for Pizarro, Millais used the actor Henry John Wallack who had notably played him in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play Pizarro.[2]
It was exhibited at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1846.[3] His first work to exhibited there, it was praised by critics despite its poor location in the exhibition.[4] Soon afterwards Millais joined the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It is today in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum having been acquired in 1897.[5]