William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme a painting by Edmund Leighton. Lever's rival in the soap industry, A & F Pears, had taken the lead in using art for marketing by buying paintings such as "Bubbles" by John Everett Millais to promote its products. Lever's response was to acquire similarly illustrative works, and he later bought 'The New Frock' by William Powell Frith to promote the Sunlight soap brand. In 1922 he founded the Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight in Cheshire which he dedicated to his late wife Elizabeth. William Lever was born on 19 September 1851 at 16 Wood Street, Bolton, Lancashire, England.
The Return of the Dove to the Ark plan for the painting was to include the figure of Noah, as well as including several animals in the background. The final omission of these other figures is thought to have been due to his desire to have the painting ready for the Royal Academy exhibition of 1851. "The Return of the Dove to the Ark" was first put on public display at the Royal Academy in April 1851. Millais was surprised to learn that some Roman Catholics who viewed it believed it to be an allegory for the return of the country to the true faith. It was praised