Prayer
George Frederick Watts RA (1817-1904)
1860
Hare's caption: "Hare's caption and commentary: "This is one of the most simple and beautiful of Watts' early works. The young woman is kneeling at the table, book in hand, her mind absorbed in thoughts of reverence. Painted in 1860. . . . In "Prayer" the simplicity of the treatment may lead any one to pass it by as something slight and conventional, but it is perhaps one of the greatest of this type where simplicity and spirituality are combined."
Holman Hunt has a very similar, much later painting entitled Morning Prayer.
References
Blunt, Wilfred. "England's Michaelangelo": A Biography of George Frederic Watts, Om., R.A. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1975.
Hare, William Loftus. Watts (1817-1904). Full text at Project Gutenberg. [This appears to be a pamphlet in a series entitled Matsrepieces in Colour edited by T. Leman Hare. The Gutenberg text does not indicate place or date of publication.]
Last modified 18 July 2005