Navigating the motifs and context of Hylas and the Nymphs depicted in paintings, with a focus on John William Waterhouse’s 1896 interpretation.
Words by Carys Granger
Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse, 1896, portrays the Greek legend of the tragic youth Hylas, based on accounts by Ovid and other ancient writers, in which the enthralled Hylas is abducted by Naiads (female water nymphs) while having set out to find drinking water. As a direct account of Greek mythology, indicating inspiration from antiquity, Waterhouse is not simply re-telling the legend; instead, his painting is a pursuit of revitalising the imagery and iconography. This shows Waterhouse as an artist of romanticism, and alongside the movement he is stimulated by classical antiquity. During the Romantic Period, the motifs of movement, aesthetics and form were explored, and Waterhouse reveals this through his passion for rendering images of women found in both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend. In this distinct painting, although Hylas is the protagonist of the myth, the nymphs are the focal point, and the viewer is encapsulated with the nymphs alongside Hylas. This article is an investigation of how this painting has been indefinitely inspired by antiquity, focusing on how Greek mythology is a source of influence for Waterhouse, the iconography of the painting in its context, and how romanticism is indebted to antiquity.
Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896 by John William Waterhouse
The exploration of Greek mythology has been acknowledged throughout art history and continues to be an integral source of inspiration for artists and audiences. When investigating mythology, it is essential to understand the semantics of the word and its context. The word ‘mythology’ connotes fantasy and reverie. When these aspects are focused on, the artworks display how the painter uses both classical inspiration and creative license to narrate this myth, which is fundamental to any representation of mythology. Subjectivism and personalism are essential to ensure receptiveness towards the appropriate audience, alongside a foundation of the motifs and formality found in antiquity to depict the legend. Hylas as a figure has also been seen in renderings of the same myth in Young Hylas with the Water Nymphs by William Etty in 1833, and Hylas and the Water Nymphs by Henrietta Rae in 1910. These paintings, likewise to Waterhouse’s depiction, show Hylas with his muscular and physiognomic attributions, which are directly linked to an idealised stereotype of the physical attributes men desired, as portrayed most assertively through Greek sculptures. Waterhouse often uses Greek mythology as a source of inspiration, directing his attention to myths about women seen in antiquity. Waterhouse is predominantly a painter of women, recreating female figures from the realms of Homeric and Ovidian myth (as well as from medieval legend). Portraying their purity and enchanting feminine visage. Nevertheless, he also depicts them as beguiling victimisers in this painting. Unlike most male artists Waterhouse shows women as the victimiser rather than a victim in Hylas and the Nymphs, which presents the male gaze in an untraditional manner.
Young Hylas with the Water Nymphs, 1833 by William Etty
Hylas and the Water Nymphs, 1910 by Henrietta Rae
The subject of Hylas and the Nymphs has been a leitmotif in the art canon. However, it has caused controversy even in the modern age (removal of the painting from the walls of the Manchester Art Gallery in 2018), for its lack of censorship. To further this, censorship was not a delegated issue in classical times, as a majority of the artwork exhibited nude figures, and a restriction towards pre-pubescent nudity was unscrutinised. Waterhouse uses this to his advantage, displaying this focus on women’s physicality in his art. Through a physiognomic lens of Hylas and the Nymphs, the viewer is exposed to their alabaster skin and luxurious hair, this beguiling nature that draws the viewers’ attention mirroring that of Hylas. This further links it to antiquity as a source of inspiration, as it presents the figure of the femme fatale that is adamant in Greek mythology. The iconography and idealisation of the femme fatale are also seen in other paintings by Waterhouse, such as The Siren, 1900 and Echo and Narcissus, 1903. These paintings are also profoundly inspired by antiquity and display the male as the victim and the female as the dominant character. Hylas’ downfall is romanticised through the guise of the nymphs who captivate and entice him, Waterhouse, and most prominently the viewer. This tragedy is conveyed in a lush and idealised artistic framework; the nymphs' ease and position in the water become an element of the allegory of deceit that they possess. From a feminist lens, the imagery and iconography of the femme fatale are also displayed throughout literature, a more modern example being, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, 1979. The idealisation and aesthetical paradigm of the femme fatale has unequivocally been inspired by antiquity, as these figures are witnessed throughout mythology.
Echo and Narcissus, 1903 by John William Waterhouse
As Hylas and the Nymphs is situated within the context of romanticism, the relationship between antiquity and romanticism is a form of neo-classicism. Although romanticism is often juxtaposed to neo-classicism, the definition of neo-classical indicates a “return to classical values and a revival of the elegant styles of Greek and Roman art”. Deriving from the Greek word ‘neo’, neo-classicism as a form of revival is certainly encountered in romanticism, linking to artists such as Waterhouse, Frederic Leighton and John Everett Millais. In connection to his Hylas and the Nymphs painting, Waterhouse does not candidly reinstate the mythology behind the painting, but as an alternative, his painting is an anthropomorphic recognition, as a means of revitalising and articulating the imagery and iconography. From a material perspective, this motif is demonstrated throughout Waterhouse’s work; his use of physiognomy and chromatography sets a precedent for revitalisation. However, it is significant to note that as Waterhouse uses humans in his oeuvre, his style of romanticism is detached from that of Joseph M. W. Turner’s landscapes as a style of romanticism, which links to the power of the unfamiliar and panoramic enigma of realism through scenes of nature. As stated, “Classical subject art arose in Victorian culture as a counter-movement to the insular, meticulous detail of the Pre-Raphaelites, but it also intersected with Victorian cultural ideologies involving imperialism, agnosticism, centralized government, social mobility, and construction of gendered ideologies of male heroism and female venality and victimisation”. It is an innate motif within Victorian culture to understand how gender and political frameworks integrate with the subject of classicism. In retrospection, classicism is a source of provocation throughout the art canon. Nonetheless, antiquity has an intrinsic element within Victorian art and sculpture, as themes of aesthetics, morality and politics are evident.
In conclusion, antiquity has been profoundly and thoroughly a source of inspiration for Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse. Motifs of aesthetic grandeur, iconography and mythology are drawn from antiquity, especially concerning the romanticism movement, whereby Greek mythology was an unfathomable source of creative motivation. Antiquity was the archetypal inspiration found in Waterhouse’s artwork, clearly demonstrating how he explores Greek mythology, especially regarding the significance and iconography of the femme fatale. In addition, antiquity in relation to physiognomy is portrayed throughout Waterhouse’s narrative of the idealised mythological figures he captured. This painting is a precedent of how Greek mythology can be revitalised and fortified, indicating how antiquity was and still is relevant within the art canon.
Texts Referenced:
The Art Book. Glossary of Artistic movements. The Phaidon Press. 2012 edition.
Joseph A. Kestner. "Before "Ulysses": Victorian Iconography of the Odysseus Myth." James Joyce Quarterly 28, no. 3. 1991. Page 565-6.
