The All-Pervading

Painting
Oil on canvas
214 cm × 112 cm (84 in × 44 in)

Wikimedia Commons

The All-Pervading is a painting produced between 1887 and 1890 by the English artist George Frederic Watts (1817–1904).[1]

The heavily draped figure, surrounded by large wings, is staring into a globe or crystal ball, and depicts what Watts described as “the immeasurable expanse”. The androgynous nature of the figure suggests a higher knowledge of the universe, and is reminiscent of Michelango’s sibyls on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel.[2]

Watts painted a version of The All-Pervading for the altar of Watts Cemetery Chapel in the villageSmall rural collection of buildings with a church. of Compton, Surrey. The chapel was designed by his second wife, Mary, and Watts completed his painting just three months before his death.[3]

Watts donated The All-Pervading to the Tate in 1899, and it remains in their collection today.[2]

References


Works cited

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