A portrait like this would set you far above all the young men in England, and make the old men quite jealous, if old men are ever capable of any emotion.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 1. Lord Henry’s eyebrows are raised when Basil tells him that he won’t be sending his portrait of Dorian to the Grosvenor or anywhere else for public display. Urging him to do so, he tells Basil that it is "the best thing you have never done" and such a portrait would make him the envy of others throughout England. Basil is seen in the novel as the artist metaphor for Oscar Wilde himself.