The Knight Errant

The Knight Errant is an oil painting on canvas by the British artist John Everett Millais, from 1870. It features a young nude woman tied to a tree, being rescued by a knight in shining armour. He has driven off her attackers, who are shown either dead or fleeing in the background. The scene takes place at some point in the medieval era but its context is deliberately unclear. Intended as a celebration of chivalry, although not based on specific literary work, several reviews described it as "Spenserian".

Although nude paintings had been produced in rising numbers in recent years Millais was not known for his nude works. Rather than the fashionable classical style of Frederic Leighton, the robust style of the female nude harked back to the paintings of William Etty of whom Millais had been an admirer before he became involved in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.