Love and Life

George Frederic Watts RA (1817-1904)

1885

Source: Hare, Watts

Hare's caption: "Love, strong in his immortal youth, leads Life, a slight female figure, along the steep uphill path; with his broad wings he shelters her, that the winds of heaven may not visit her too roughly. Violets spring where Love has trod, and as they ascend to the mountain top the air becomes more and more golden. The implication is that, without the aid of Divine Love, fragile Human Life could not have power to ascend the steep path upward. First exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1885. Companion picture to 'Love and Death,' and 'Love Triumphant.'"

This painting bears a strong resemblance to works by Burne-Jones [GPL].

Text and formatting by George P. Landow

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit Project Gutenberg and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.

Bibliography

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.]

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Last modified 18 July 2005