The father of Handel, a physician, 'was so averse to his son learning music that he would not allow him to go to school. A friend, however, smuggled a clavichord into a disused attic, and hither, until detected, the baby genius used to steal at night and indulge his instinctive craving for music

From the painting by Margaret Dicksee. By permission of the Berlin Photographic Co.