Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus - 1905 Acrylic Print

acrylic prints john william waterhouse nymphs orpheus maenads female dionysus pre-raphaelite blue brown black women water pond lake waterfall

paintings john william waterhouse nymphs orpheus maenads female dionysus pre-raphaelite blue brown black women water pond lake waterfall

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Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus - 1905, John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 – 10 February 1917) : Orpheus was inconsolable at this second loss of his wife. He spurned the company of women and kept apart from ordinary human activities. A group of Ciconian Maenads, female devotees of Dionysus, came upon him one day as he sat singing beneath a tree. They attacked him, throwing rocks, branches, and anything else that came to hand. However, Orpheus' music was so beautiful that it charmed even inanimate objects, and the missiles refused to strike him. Finally, the Maenads' attacked him with their own hands, and tore him to pieces. Orpheus' head floated down the river, still singing, and came to rest on the isle of Lesbos.Orpheus was also reputed to be the founder of the Orphic religious cult.

From the time I was a child I have been intrigued with the patterning of light and the interaction of color. In the course of my life path I fell away from any sense of creative freedom, working from what I thought was expected of me. Through the long process of releasing an imposed belief system and replacing it with my own experiences and truths I have become able, emotionally and spiritually to access my child spirit through my adult educated mind. I am powerfully influenced by the passionate colors of the Italian High Renaissance and the gestural freedom of Impressionism and abstract expressionism. The spirituality of the theories in these genres has also had a great impact on me. In my work I seek to establish the intricate web...