The first of these designs [by Rossetti] is founded on the last two verses of The Lady of Shalott on p.75. In the immediate foreground is the boat bearing its dead burthen, over whose head an arched covering supports burning candles, how there, and how lighted, known only to the designer. Indeed, it is amusing to compare Rossetti's independence in his treatment of the subject with the imitation of his idea by others who have followed him and pictured the same poem. For example, take Mr. J.W. Waterhouse's in other respects strikingly original conception, in which not only do three of Rossetti's candles appear, but also Mr. Holman Hunt's 'one great Reality' finds its place in the crucifix, above which they flare and gutter. One and all seem to forget that 'heavily the low sky' was 'raining.'*

* Since writing the above I have received a letter from Mr. Waterhouse, in which he says: 'With respect to the lighted candles in my picture, I made use of them merely as a means of completing the composition, my excuse being that lighted candles might have been used by the Lady of Shalott as a kind of devotional office before her death. I remember seeing in an engraving from a mediaeval manuscript a bier covered with candles.'

Ulysses and the Sirens. By J.W. Waterhouse, A.R.A, R.I.

According to the Homeric legend, when Ulysses, in his wanderings, came near the island where the Sirens dwelt, on the advice of the enchantress Circe he stopped the ears of his companions and caused himself to be tied to the mast of his vessel until the voices of these mythical beings who were supposed to have the power of alluring mariners to destruction by their sweet song, could no longer be heard.

In art the Sirens are usually represented with the bodies of women and the legs of birds, with or without wings, but appear more rarely with only the heads of women.

Prof. Herkomer, speaking of "Ulysses and the Sirens," says:- "Here we have what might be more definitely called imaginative art, i.e., the art of conjuring up the probable appearance of an ancient scene, and the subject is treated with a curious regard for Japanese art, and equally so for the art of the Greek vases. It was from one of the latter that he got the idea of the picture, and this is his authority for making Sirens such as we have always imagined harpies to be represented. The colour, fill and rich, is in no way impossible, but is distinctly agreeable. The painting is direct and simple, everything painted more or less at once (just the reverse method to that employed by Dicksee). But this does not mean that he gets what he desires at once; he may paint a part twenty times, but each time it will be complete. This is the French influence upon us."

John William Waterhouse was born of English parents at Rome in 1849. He studied at the Royal Academy, where he first exhibited in 1874. He was elected an A.R.A. in 1885. His picture, "The Magic Circle," was purchased under the terms of the Chantrey Bequest, in 1886. "Diogenes" is in the National Gallery, Sydney.

Purchased by Professor Herkomer in 1891. Canvas, 57 in x 73 in.