According to his wife, Burne-Jones first began a large version of 'The Fountain of Youth' in 1873, which may be identified as this painting. The fountain of immortality was a theme he returned to several times over the years. Although the precise source of the subject is unknown, it is most probably derived from classical mythology. The Muses were thought to visit a spring on Mount Parnassus from which sprang the fountain of Castalia, the source of poetic inspiration. Tate Gallery label, September 2004