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Annunciation ( detail ), Leonardo Da Vinci

1472-1475

Oil and tempera on panel

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

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The Death of Sappho (1873) by Gustave Moreau

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Zinaida Serebriakovа, Portrait of Yekaterina Heidenreich in Red, 1923

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Tikhiy Ivan Antonovich (Russian, 1927-1982)

With a Sick Friend, 1950s

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Sandstone relief sculpture of St Helena (mother of Roman Emperor Constantine) attributed to Desiderio da Settignamo, (Renaissance Florence, 1429). Toledo Museum of Art.

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Narcissus

Artist: John William Waterhouse (English, 1849–1917)

Date: 1912

Genre: Mythological Painting

Material: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Private Collection

Description

John William Waterhouse is very famous for his use of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Most of his pieces express classical mythology, historical subjects, and British poetry. He is known for his great proficiency in oils and watercolors. Narcissus was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1912.

The exquisite oil painting on canvas displays a woman picking flowers in a field. According to the Greek mythology by Ovid, Narcissus was the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. Narcissus had been promised to live to an old age if only he would not look at his reflection, and so he rejected all women who fell in love with him and would not look at himself. Eventually, he was subdued by Echo, a woman who was deeply hurt by his rejection that she caused the Goddess Nemesis to strike Narcissus that he may look at his reflection in a pool and fall in love with himself. Narcissus then looked at his reflection in the pool till he died.

This story gives origin to the narcissus flower, which grew where Narcissus died. The flower grows almost anywhere but prefers well-drained soil with a sunny or light shade environment. The masterpiece of oil on canvas is set in a beautiful wooded landscape, seemingly with a stream and rocky edges. Wildflowers grow there too, and a young lady is bent picking them. Her countenance is downcast in the flowers. In her other hand, she holds a bunch of already picked flowers. She is dressed in a red dress, perhaps to symbolize love or a burning passion. The flowers she is picking are the narcissus flowers. Waterhouse was always keen to use colours, patterns, and simple objects for symbols of the old mythologies. The Narcissus would be no different. This wonderful work of art brings out his genius with the oils on canvas as he seemingly brings every aspect to life as rich in meaning.

Waterhouse was much influenced and inspired by Greek Mythology and works by Homer, Ovid, Shakespeare, and Keats, among other famous writers and poets from the time. His most common theme from these sources was femme fatale, the woman who ensnares a man. Most of Waterhouse's subjects were women from Greek Mythology, historical or literary texts. Often, he used live models, family, and friends to be his subjects, creating a great mix of the old and new as he used symbolism from the mythologies around current English settings.

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Vengeance is Sworn [detail] (1851, oil on canvas) | Francesco Hayez

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Portrait of Countess Anna Evgrafovna Komarovskaya

Pyotr Fyodorovich Sokolov, 1820s

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Rousse (La toilette), 1889

- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

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The Recitation, 1888 by Otto Erdmann (German, 1834–1905)

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Gustav Klimt. Grand staircase of Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum. 1890-1891

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Jules-Joseph Lefebvre — Jeanne La Rousse. details. 1836–1911

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Morning Awakening, Eva Gonzalès, 1876

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Portrait of Elizabeth Wharton-Drexel, 1905

Giovanni Boldini

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London Visitors, James Tissot

Medium: oil,canvas

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Portrait of Edith Hope Iselin, 1930 (private collection)

Philip Alexius de László

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The Harbour Window, 1910

Stanhope Forbes