"When a man sets out to paint a monumental painting, or to write an epic, men think of and , and vote all such efforts dull and pompous. Certainly it is safer to paint , or write little lyrics exquisitely. But knew that subject counts for a great deal in art. The choice of a subject obviously matters immensely, because no one works well on a subject that does not interest him; and a great subject, though it does not make a feeble treatment of it great is necessary for calling out a man's utmost powers. Resistance in one's material is a fine spur to effort; and many artists have never realised a tenth of their own latent powers till brought to grapple with a subject which perhaps, at the time, utterly defeated them. Now Watts had a natural bent towards imaginative subjects on the heroic plane. Watts was very English ..."