Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus was transferred to the Liverpool Academy in 1851. In 1887, the painting was bought by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. , the painting is still in their collection. Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus is an 1851 oil painting by William Holman Hunt. It depicts a scene from William Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona". The top left and right portions of the frame include excerpts from act V, scene IV of the play. From left to right, the characters are Julia, disguised as a page, Sylvia, Valentine, and Proteus, who is in love with
Laura Valentine of the Church of England. Within 12 months of their marriage, she was widowed. Her literature often was educational, told of travel, or described the London scene. As an adult novelist, Laura Valentine specialized in florid historical romance. Her main novels were Kirkholme Priory (1847), The Vassal (1850), and the Cup and the Lip (1851). Valentine expressed an expertise in Shakespeare, editing "The Works of William Shakespeare” and creating a number of children's versions of Shakespeare plays including The Merchant of Venice and The Tempest. Professionally, Valentine was one of the chief editors of Frederick Warne & Co and the