The Danaides

The Danaides from 1903 depicts the daughters of Danaus, condemned in Greek mythology to spend eternity in Hades filling leaking jars with water as punishment for killing their husbands on their wedding night. Waterhouse painted the subject with the focused interest in female figures from classical mythology that characterized his mature work. The image of beautiful women engaged in endless futile labor held particular resonance for a painter who was consistently drawn to women caught in situations of entrapment, compulsion, or doom. The painting belongs to a private collection and has not had a stable museum home.

Waterhouse renders the Danaides as a group of figures in a shallow frieze-like arrangement, their repeated postures emphasizing the monotonous, eternal nature of their punishment. His handling of the water vessels and the women's draped figures shows his mastery of fabric and ceramic surface. The color scheme is warm and Mediterranean, consistent with his classical subjects.