The idea of the story came to Wilde in 1884 when he visited the studio of his friend, a painter named Basil Ward. One of Ward's sitters was a youth of exceptional beauty, and one day Wilde observed it was a pity that such a glorious creature should ever grow old. The painter completed the Dorian Gray plot by speculating how delightful it would be if the youth could remain forever as he was while the portrait of him aged and withered instead.