The Portraitist of the Midlands Enlightenment In the bustling, industrious heart of eighteenth-century Birmingham, a period defined by the intellectual fervor of the Midlands Enlightenment, James Millar emerged as a master of the human countenance. Born around 1735, Millar did not merely paint faces; he captured the very essence of an era characterized by scientific curiosity and rational progress. As the city’s preeminent portrait pa…