Please set your monitor to at least 800x600 high color and download the freeware font Trebuchet to view this page as it was intended. ... John William Waterhouse was born in Rome to British parents on April 6, 1849. ... Waterhouse, known to his family as 'Nino', was an avid scholar of ancient history during his youth, and unlike most members of the Royal Academy his only tutorage in art was from his father. ... It was he who returned young Nino's attentions back to the art of painting. ...