The Girl with the Millais Cape

The title of this painting acknowledges the English painter John Everett Millais, whose work sometimes featured women in costumes similar to the one worn by this young shepherdess.

Edward Riché Butler was one of Sacramento’s most talented early artists, yet today one of its least known. He was born and raised near the Crocker Art Museum at 3rd and N Streets and was the son of Miner F. Butler, the architect for the California State Capitol. He studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts, training under Jean-Léon Gérôme.