Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse Ceramic Tree Decoration

Circe Invidiosa (1892) by JW Waterhouse is a vintage Victorian Pre-Raphaelite fine art mythological portrait painting. A beautiful young woman is holding a vessel with water that is spilling out like a waterfall into the ocean by the seashore. In mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic (nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress) living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey. Circe was the daughter of Helios (or Helius), the god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid and the sister of Aeetes, the keeper of the Golden Fleece and of Pasiphaë, the mother of the Minotaur. Other accounts make her the daughter of Hecate. Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs. About the artist: John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) was an English Preraphaelite painter most famous for his paintings of female characters from ancient mythology and literature.