Godward, John William (1861 - 1922), was one of the best of the followers of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. (Alma-Tadema's followers are now known as 'The Marble School'). Godward devoted his whole life to painting girls in classical robes, usually posing decoratively on a marble terrace.

He was among the brightest stars of the late Graeco-Roman painters, during classicism's twilight and final extinguishing. Some believe he equaled Tadema in the depiction of marble and flowers and Leighton in the depiction of drapery. Typically, his paintings are without any story, focused on a single girl, large on the canvas, semi-draped or wearing translucent garments, giving a sensuality somewhat diminished by the careful, classical composition of the rest of the picture. Often the model is recognizable as his Italian girl, with black hair parted in the middle, very large eyes, thick eyebrows and a rounded face. However, other models also appear frequently in his pictures, including one looking much like Alma Tadema's wife or daughters.

He fell in love with one of his models - an Italian girl - and when he 'ran off to Italy with her' it was the last straw, his figure being cut out from the family portraits. Godward's subjects are typically beautiful girls in classical robes on marble terraces.

He was not just a painter or a picture maker. Rather he was a desperate contriver of dream icons, symbolizing the archetypal perfect world of women, beauty and peace. For Godward's art was not only an aesthetic exercise but rather art therapy, masking a troubled soul. Through these pictures he lived his self-contained life until melancholia, fed by ill health and increasing artistic criticism, overwhelmed his fantasy world of serenity. A hapless victim of his own personality, unable to make his way in a hostile world, Godward simply ended it all.

Unfortunately Godward committed suicide after being savaged by critics and reportedly left a note indicating something to the effect that the world was not big enough for him and a Picasso.