'No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace / As I have seen in one autumnal face.'

Millais at Tate Britain. This may cost me credibility, but I thought there were some astonishing paintings. 'Mariana', the later version of '"The Eve of St Agnes', 'Dew-drenched Furze' and some of the other late Perthshire landscapes. Quite a few to which I am indifferent, and one which I absolutely loathe. I have a violently adverse reaction every time I see 'The Blind Girl'. I don't know why - it's not the sentimentality of the subject matter because I am repulsed even before I get close to the painting. I think the pose of the girl may bring to my mind a shocking painting by Otto Dix (a great artist). But for some reason I really cannot bear to look at 'The Blind Girl'.

Since one of the late landscape took its name from the Donne quotation at the head of this post, I finish with a couple of autumnal photos taken as I left the exhibition.