"Godward's art was more than escapist; it was purposely beautiful in an age plunging headlong into atrocity. He sought to portray peace, feminine beauty and ideal perfection by marvellously painted and composed pictures of beautiful women in halcyon classical environments." (Vern Grosvenor Swanson, John William Godward - The Eclipse of Classicism, Biography and Catalogue Raisonné)

As was customary for the period, Godward painted this reduced version of his 1894 Royal Academy exhibit, A Priestess, for the preparation of an engraving. The wood engraver, W. Biscome Gardner, used it to produce a print of A Priestess. It was through this print that Godward became widely known in the 1890's. The full-scale version, identical to our work, is dated May 1894 (ibid., p. 49, illustrated) and is currently in a New York private collection (ibid., p. 189).

Dr. Vern Grosvenor Swanson, author of the biography and catalogue raisonné on Godward, has examined our work and confirmed its authenticity. He has added it to his catalogue raisonné of Godward's works.  A copy of Dr. Swanson's letter of authenticity will accompany this painting.

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Born into a wealthy family who thoroughly disapproved of his choice to become an artist, Godward nevertheless pursued a career as a painter. Based in London, he exhibited at the Royal Academy beginning in 1887. He was the most skilled of a number of followers of the highly-popular Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and, at his peak, was nearly as famous as the elder artist. However, he had the misfortune to survive into an age when the Victorian artists, and Alma-Tadema in particular, fell into low public and critical esteem.

Around 1912, he began a long sojourn in Italy with one of his models, an Italian with whom he had fallen in love. This was the last straw for his family. His image was excised from the family portraits.

After a stay of some seven years in Rome, he returned to England in 1919. Shunned by family and an artistic anachronism, he took his own life in 1922.