e him of beautiful form and
colour, and even to travel farther afield. One year he pushed as far as
Naples, stopping on the way for a hurried glance at Rome. On this
memorable day the Sistine chapel and its paintings were kept to the
last; and Watts, high though his expectations were, was overwhelmed at
what he saw. 'Michelangelo', he said, 'stands for Italy, as Shakespeare
does for England.' So the four years went by till in 1847 this halcyon
period came to an end. The Royal Commission of Fine Arts was offering
prizes for fresco-painting, and Watts felt that he must put his growing
powers to the test and utilize what he had learnt. This time he chose
for his subject 'Alfred inciting the English to resist the Danes by
sea'. He was busy at work in the early months of 1847 making many
sketches in pencil for the figures, and by April he was on his way home,
bringing with him the 'Alfred' almost finished and five other canvases
in various stages of completion. The picture was placed in Westminster
Hall for competition in June, and soon after he was announced to be the
winner of one of the three L500 prizes. When the Commissioners decided
to purchase his picture for the nation, he refused to take more than
L200 for it, though he might easily have obtained a far higher price.
This is one of the earliest instances in which he displayed that signal
generosity which marked his whole career.

During the next three years his life was rather desultory. He was hoping
to return to Italy and did not find it easy to settle down in London. He
changed his studio two or three times. He planned various works, but
felt chilled at the absence of any clear encouragement from new patrons
or from the general public. His success in 1847 had not been followed
by any commissions for the sort of work he loved: interest in the
decoration of public buildings was still spasmodic and too rare.

He made the acquaintance of Mr. Ruskin; but, friendly though they were
in their personal relations, they did not see eye to eye in artistic
matters. Ruskin seemed to lay too much emphasis on points of secondary
importance, and to fail in judging the work of Michelangelo and the
greatest masters. So Watts thought, and many years later, in
conversation with Jowett, declared, chary though he was of criticizing
his friends. To-day there is little doubt whose judgement was the truer,
even had Ruskin not weakened his position by so often contradicting
himself. Beside