Death Crowning Innocence
George Frederick Watts RA (1817-1904)
1896
Tate Galley, London
Hare's caption: "A little child lying in the lap of the winged figure of Death. Death, ever to Watts a silent angel of pity, "takes charge of Innocence, placing it beyond the reach of evil."
This painting, in some ways a representative Victorian work, must be seen in the context of thse high infant and child mortality of the period. Like George MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind, Charles Kingsley's Water Babies, and Holman Hunt's The Triumph of the Innocents, it offers comfort and reassurance to both parents and children [GPL].
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