o was the last man in the world to take advantage of hospitality or to
thrust himself into other people's houses. No doubt it is not to be
taken too literally, but at least it is so far true that he very quickly
became intimate with his host and hostess and found a home where he
could pursue his art under ideal conditions. The value and the danger of
patronage have been often discussed. Democracy may provide a discipline
for artists and men of letters which is often salutary in testing the
sincerity of their devotion to art and literature; but, in such a stern
school, men of genius may easily founder and miss their way.

However that may be, Watts found just the haven which was needed for a
nature like his. So far he had known but little appreciation, and had
lived with few who were his peers. Now he was cheered by the favour of
men and women who had known the best and whose favour was well worth the
winning. But he kept his independence of spirit. He lived in a palace,
but his diet was as sparing as that of a hermit. He feasted his eyes on
the great works of the Renaissance, but he preserved his originality,
and continued to work, with fervour and enhanced enthusiasm, on the
lines which he had already marked out for himself. He did not copy with
the hand, but he drank in new lessons with the eyes and dreamed new
dreams with the spirit.

The Hollands had two houses, one in the centre of the city, the other,
the Villa Medicea di Careggi, lying on the edge of the hills some two or
three miles to the north. This latter had been a favourite residence of
the first Cosimo; here Lorenzo had died, turning his face to the wall,
unshriven by Savonarola; and here Watts decorated an open _loggia_ in
fresco, to bear witness to its latest connexion with the patronage of
Art. Between the two houses he passed laborious but tranquil days,
studying, planning, training his hand to mastery, but enjoying in his
leisure all that such a home could give him of varied entertainment.
Music and dancing, literature and good company, all had their charms for
him, though none of them could beguile him into neglecting his work.
Fortune had tried him with her frowns and with her smiles; under
temptations of both sorts he remained but more faithful to his calling.

His health gave cause for anxiety from time to time, but he delighted in
the sunshine and the genial climate of the South, and in general he was
well enough to enjoy what Florence could giv