I spent a fair amount of time living in Oxford (three summers, one January) and in the 2 or 3 times I visited the Ashmolean, I do not remember this painting; now I wish I had sought it out and made note of it... there is an indescribable, palpable feeling of awe and excitement one feels when being in the presence of a great work of art; especially if one has admired it for years via a reproduction or photograph before seeing the real thing. I cannot help thinking that some art thieves, in addition to acting out of greed ("this is priceless and somewhere there will be someone unscrupulous enough to buy it"), and selfish nastiness ("I have this thing so no one else can enjoy it"), I have often wondered if there is not, among some of these thieves, that tendency to feel some sort of ecstasy in the presence of such beauty...then again, maybe not...

peg who would love to own, say, an original Waterhouse...and recently was left awed in the presence of a Van Gogh at the MFA...