Destiny – (John William Waterhouse) Previous Next


Artist:

Style: Romanticism

Topic: Events Life Wars

Date: 1900

Size: 53 x 67 cm

Museum: Townley Hall Art Museum (United Kingdom)

Technique: Oil On Canvas

Destiny (1900) is an oil painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse. In 1899 the Boer War had begun in South Africa, and in the spring of 1900 350 artists donated works to the Artists' War Fund in support of the British troops. After being exhibited in the London Guildhall, the pictures were auctioned by Christie's, who waived the £12,000 profit in favour of the Fund. Destiny was painted by Waterhouse especially for the cause, as shown by his own inscription 'Artists' War Fund' above his signature, and was selected by The Studio as one of the most noteworthy in the exhibition. The girl drinking a libation to the departing heroes was a favourite model for the rest of his career; statuesque in her beauty, she casts a sympathetic gaze towards the ships already under sail. Waterhouse's setting is typical of his origins - Italianate and geometrical: the circles of the mirror and its stand are repeated in the arches of the tiled loggia and the front of the lectern.

This artwork is in the public domain.

Artist

Download

Click here to download

Permissions

Free for non commercial use. See below.

John William Waterhouse – Most viewed artworks

Public domain

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image or remove the watermark.

This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.


Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement that rule of the shorter term.