AN ARTISTIC prodigy, Millais was the youngest ever student to enter the prestigious Royal Academy Schools and completed his first major oil painting aged just 16.
During his time at the Schools he met fellow artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. Together they founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - a reaction against what they saw as the stuffy and traditional art favoured by the Academy at the time.
Millais was in demand for his portraits and many celebrities of the day, including Tennyson, sat for him.
His masterpieces such as Ophelia and Isabella now grace the walls of the country's top galleries.
One of the Victorian artist's most famous images is Bubbles', a picture of his grandson blowing bubbles.
Southampton's Millais Gallery - part of Southampton Solent University - was built in 1996 to coincide with the centenary of the artist's death.
Name: John Everett Millais Occupation: Artist Date of Birth: June 8, 1829 DIED: August 13, 1896 LOCAL LINK: Born in Southampton
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