Esther by John Everett Millais.

She’s not as beautiful in this painting as I would have imagined her, or perhaps she’s just not exactly fitting my cultural expectations. Of course, she’s also awfully fair-skinned, not very Jewish looking to me at all. If there is such a thing a “Jewish-looking.” And there has been a lot of discussion of that particular aspect of illustrating stories lately.

Millais borrowed the Yellow Jacket, “a gown given to General Gordon by the Chinese emperor after his defeat of the Taiping rebellion.” But Millais turned the gown inside-out so that it wouldn’t look Chinese. (The book of Esther takes place in the Persian court of King Xerxes.) Esther is supposed to be adjusting her pearls and preparing to put on her crown. She doesn’t look particularly frightened or brave to me. Maybe thoughtful.