The Tares (The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)

It took Millais seven years to design twenty images inspired by New Testament Parables for the Dalziel Brothers, and the resulting prints are considered pinnacles of wood engraved illustration. The artist wrote to his publishers, "I can do ordinary drawings as quickly as most men, but these designs can scarcely be regarded in the same light—each Parable I illustrate perhaps a dozen times before I fix [the image]." After completing a design, Millais transferred it to a woodblock coated with "Chinese" white for skilled engravers to carve. Finally, he reviewed proofs, and final adjustments were made before the final printing.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13: 24-30) records how "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but...his enemy came and sowed tares (weeds) among the wheat." Pre-Raphaelite ideals shaped Millais's combination of detailed naturalism and down-to-earth imagery to produce a work distinctly different than most religious art of the period.