World Paintings

John William Waterhouse

Detail of Juliet, 1898, oil on canvas, 46.5 x 70cm, private collection.

John William Waterhouse

Study (Head of a Girl), c. 1898, pencil on paper.

John William Waterhouse

Pandora, 1896, oil on canvas, 91 × 152 cm, private collection.

According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman ever to be created on earth. At the request of Zeus she was blessed with every gift the gods could grant - from beauty to persuasion. Zeus then presented her with a box which she was not to open under any circumstance. According to the myth, Pandora opened the box, releasing all the evils of mankind which then spread all over the earth. Only Hope was left inside once she had closed the box again.

John William Waterhouse

Detail of Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester.

John William Waterhouse

A Mermaid, 1901, oil on canvas, 67 x 98 cm, Royal Academy of Arts, London.

John William Waterhouse

Detail of Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester.

The myth behind this painting has an unhappy ending. When the ship of the Argonauts reached the island of Cios, Hylas, the young and handsome companion of Hercules, was sent ashore in search of water. He discovered a fountain, but the nymphs of the place were so enchanted by his beauty that they pulled him to the depths of their watery abode, and in spite of the cries of Hercules which made the shores reverberate with the name Hylas, the young man was never seen again.

John William Waterhouse

Portrait of a Girl, 1897, oil on canvas. 

John William Waterhouse

Cleopatra, 1888, oil on canvas,private collection.

John William Waterhouse was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter who is most famous for his paintings of female characters from Greek and Arthurian mythology.