Birds of a Feather
George Frederic Watts, The Wounded Heron, 1837, oil on canvas (Watts Gallery Trust)
On a guided tour of the George Watts Gallery, near Guildford recently, I was surprised to learn about the Victorian artist’s ‘protest pictures’.
Born when our own Percy Shelley was at the height of his powers writing his controversial poems of protest, I felt the two would have got on well, with their artistic commentaries on the ruthlessness of the governments of their day.
One painting which felt particularly poignant was called, ‘A Dedication (to all those who love the beautiful and mourn over the senseless and cruel destruction of bird life and beauty)’. It depicts an angel weeping over an altar littered with kingfishers and other small birds.