Oil paint on canvas
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-john-everett-millais-bt-379" aria-label="More by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir John Everett Millais, Bt</a>
Moon is Up and Yet it is Night
Presented by Mrs H.S. Neilson 1946
animals: mammals
astronomy
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’
Cairnleith Little Bog
deer
evening
landscape
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
marsh
moon
Murthly
Perth and Kinross
places
Scotland
times of the day
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
UK natural features
wooded
<p>Millais first achieved fame and success as a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He always maintained close links with the Royal Academy, however, and became an Academician in 1863. Great natural talent, personal charm and the status of being a Royal Academician brought prosperity. In 1881 he acquired the lease and shooting rights of an estate at Murthly, Perthshire. This picture was painted during one of Millais' last visits there. The scenery inspired three large, sombre landscapes which were all painted during 1890-1. The view here is of Carnleth little bog which was a favourite refuge for hunted deer. The title is a quotation from Lord Byron's poem 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
12 February 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
12 February 2004 – 3 May 2004
2004-05-03
2004-02-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
11 June 2004 – 5 September 2004
2004-09-05
2004-06-11
Alte Nationalgalerie (Berlin, Germany)
28 September 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
2004-09-28
Fundació “la Caixa” (Madrid, Spain)
2004-02-12
Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature
Exhibition
26 September 2007 – 26 October 2008
2008-10-26
7 June 2008 – 17 August 2008
2008-08-17
2008-06-07
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art (Kitakyushu-City, Japan)
30 August 2008 – 26 October 2008
2008-10-26
2008-08-30
Bunkamura Museum of Art (Tokyo, Japan)
2007-09-26
Millais
Exhibition
15 February 2008 – 26 October 2008
2008-10-26
7 June 2008 – 17 August 2008
2008-08-17
2008-06-07
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art (Kitakyushu-City, Japan)
30 August 2008 – 26 October 2008
2008-10-26
2008-08-30
Bunkamura Museum of Art (Tokyo, Japan)
2008-02-15
Millais
Loan-out
1 December 2012 – 30 June 2013
2013-06-30
15 December 2012 – 30 June 2013
2013-06-30
2012-12-15
Millennium Gallery (Sheffield, UK)
http://www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk
2012-12-01
Force of Nature
Loan-out
26 March 2015 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
26 March 2015 – 21 June 2015
2015-06-21
2015-03-26
Museo Nacional de Arte (Mexico City, Mexico)
18 July 2015 – 18 October 2015
2015-10-18
2015-07-18
Pinacoteca do Estado (São Paulo, Brazil)
27 April 2018 – 5 August 2018
2018-08-05
2018-04-27
Shanghai Art Museum (Shanghai, China)
4 September 2018 – 13 November 2018
2018-11-13
2018-09-04
National Art Museum of China (Beijing, China)
2015-03-26
British Landscape
Tate partnerships & programmes
‘The Moon is Up, and Yet it is not Night’
support: 1041 × 1689 mm
frame: 1410 × 2050 × 120 mm
Presented by Mrs H.S. Neilson 1946
<p>This large, oil <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> was one of three that Millais exhibited in 1890, the others being <i>Dew-drenched Furze</i> (Private Collection) and <i>Lingering Autumn</i> (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight) Apart from a few early attempts, Millais's landscapes were all produced late in his career, between 1870 and 1892, and were based upon the local Scottish scenery near his home in Bowerswell, Perthshire and the estate at Murthly that Millais rented from 1881 for the purposes of recreational shooting and fishing. Millais's decision to introduce a stag and a hind into the landscape, which are just visible in the semi-darkness, lends an evocative sub-text to the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a>; the site for the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> was Cairnleith Little Bog on the Murthly estate which was a well-known refuge for hunted deer. 

</p><p>Millais frequently appended titles with a literary source to his landscapes, thereby adding an emotional dimension to the scenes he depicted. The title of this painting is from Canto IV of Byron's <i>Childe Harold's Pilgrimage </i>(1818), in which Byron evokes the cities and landscapes of Italy:     

</p><p> The moon is up, and yet it is not night ; <br/> Sunset divides the sky with her ; a sea            <br/> Of glory streams along the Alpine height<br/> Of blue Friuli's mountains ;  

</p><p>The title and its source (which would have been recognised by the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/victorian" title="Glossary definition for 'Victorian'"><span>Victorian</span></a> gallery-going public) endow the remote Highland setting with the atmosphere of an exotic and romantic locale. 

</p><p>Millais's landscapes were not universally liked among critics and a public which had grown used to the artist's <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/f/figurative-art" title="Glossary definition for 'Figurative'"><span>figurative</span></a> art and the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> that dominated his late career. Although it was evident to the <i>Art Journal</i> that<i> "The moon is up, and yet it is not night"</i> displayed 'higher aspirations and more pathos than the master has often of late years exhibited in pure landscape', the critic had reservations. The fault in Millais's landscapes was felt to lie with the artist's <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pre-raphaelite" title="Glossary definition for 'Pre-Raphaelite'"><span>Pre-Raphaelite</span></a> roots which discouraged him from generalising: 'The drawback is still that he reproduces rather than he interprets nature' (<i>Art Journal</i>, 1890, p.218).   

</p><p><b>Further reading:<br/></b>W. J. Eggeling, <i>Millais and Dunkeld: The Story of Millais's Landscapes</i>, [? Edinburgh], 1985, pp.13 and 15.<br/>A.L. Baldry, <i>Sir John Everett Millais, His Art and Influence</i>, London 1899, pp.59, 82-3.

</p><p>Rebecca Virag<br/>March 2001</p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>Millais first achieved fame and success as a member of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pre-raphaelite" title="Glossary definition for 'Pre-Raphaelite'"><span>Pre-Raphaelite</span></a> Brotherhood. He always maintained close links with the Royal Academy, however, and became an Academician in 1863. Great natural talent, personal charm and the status of being a Royal Academician brought prosperity. In 1881 he acquired the lease and shooting rights of an estate at Murthly, Perthshire. This picture was painted during one of Millais' last visits there. The scenery inspired three large, sombre <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscapes</span></a> which were all painted during 1890-1. The view here is of Carnleth little bog which was a favourite refuge for hunted deer. The title is a quotation from Lord Byron's poem 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
animals: mammals astronomy Byron, George Gordon, Lord, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ Cairnleith Little Bog deer evening landscape literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) marsh moon Murthly Perth and Kinross places Scotland times of the day UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions UK natural features wooded