The Return of the Dove to the Ark

The Return of the Dove to the Ark is a painting by Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1851.

The final omission of these other figures is thought to have been due to his desire to have the painting ready for the Royal Academy exhibition of 1851.

Millais was surprised to learn that some Roman Catholics who viewed it believed it to be an allegory for the return of the country to the "true faith".

[3] Ruskin was so taken with it that he wished to buy it when he first saw it, but it had already been sold to the collector Thomas Combe, superintendent of the Clarendon Press, who owned many other Pre-Raphaelite works of art.

In 1855, a French satirical magazine, Journal pour rire, printed a cartoon by Bertall parodying Millais's painting.