George Frederic Watts: A Life Dedicated to Symbol and Soul George Frederic Watts, born on February 23rd, 1817, in Marylebone, London, was an artist whose life and work were profoundly shaped by a complex interplay of classical learning, spiritual yearning, and a burgeoning interest in the emerging Symbolist movement. His early years, marked by the loss of his mother at a young age and a rigorous, almost austere, education steeped in the classics – particularly Homer’s *Iliad* – instilled within him a deep appreciation for order, beauty, and the enduring power of myth. This foundation would l…