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There is a story to this Meg John Milais painted the banks of the river in summer but continued to paint Orphelia in winter .
The poor model lay in a bathtub of water warmed by a small heater underneath .
Unfortunately Milais was so engrossed in his painting he often forgot to keep the heater going and the water went cold . Poor Lizzie ( who was married to Dante Rossetti ) caught her death and her father billed Milais for her medical expenses .
On a personal note she is ( very ) distantly related to my husbands family .
That's interesting Muddy
Although a lovely paining I wouldn't want it on my wall.
I have always wondered what Waterhouse intended when he painted Hylas and the Nymphs.
Taken from Greek and Roman legend, Hylas was seduced into the water by the Nymphs and never heard from again.
The painting was removed from the Manchester art gallery, along with post cards of the painting, due to objection by feminists but the public outcry against its removal soon caused the gallery to relent and re-hang it.
Quite a history of censorship of that painting, beyond the art itself.
I have always wondered what Waterhouse intended when he painted Hylas and the Nymphs.
Taken from Greek and Roman legend, Hylas was seduced into the water by the Nymphs and never heard from again.
The painting was removed from the Manchester art gallery, along with post cards of the painting, due to objection by feminists but the public outcry against its removal soon caused the gallery to relent and re-hang it.
Quite a history of censorship of that painting, beyond the art itself.
That was one of several "artistic nude" posters which adorned my seedy bedsit walls in the late 1960's ......
Just an excuse to paint young girls in the nud i expect .
You may be correct. It was, after all, painted at the apex of Victorian mores, when the man on the street became excited by the sight of a woman's bare ankle.
However, I still wonder if Waterhouse was saying something about women and potential danger.
Hulas should have had more sense than go into a pool with a bunch of dubious young girls
IMO there is much more to this painting/legend than merely a beautiful piece of art. I think that Waterhouse likely read Ovid, a Roman poet, and/or Heisod, a Greek poets story of Hylas and the Nymphs. I seem to remember reading that decades ago but I don't recall which book(s), or even which author.
Perhaps when I get time I'll try to locate the origins of the legend, and then I may be able to decipher Waterhouse's thinking.
What the heck, something interesting to do during lockdown.