Pre-Raphaelite Painting Echo and Narcissus

The British pre-Raphaelite painting Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, oil on canvas 1903, depicts the classical mythological story from Ovid's Metamorphoses when the mountain nymph Echo falls in love with beautiful Narcissus, who in turn falls in love with his own reflection in the water. Set in a colourful, wooded landscape, the painting reflects the pre-Raphaelite emphasis on brilliant, jewel-like colours, decorative patterns, and mediaeval and early Renaissance compositional styles. Waterhouse combines elegant, classical drawing reminiscent of Botticelli with painterly influences from the schools of Romanticism, Impressionism and Realism in his retelling of Greek mythology. John William Waterhouse (1849 - 1917) was an English painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school of the late 19th century. After studying at the British Royal Academy of Art, Waterhouse painted classical scenes from ancient Greek mythology, gradually acquiring the stylistic traits of the Pre-Raphaelites as well as the painterly qualities of the French Impressionists. Though overshadowed by the more famous members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Waterhouse exhibited with great success and produced many paintings with themes of female figures from mythology and the legends of King Arthur.