Boreas

John William Waterhouse's 'Boreas' (1903) depicts the Greek god of the North Wind — one of the four wind gods (Anemoi) of Greek mythology, Boreas was associated with winter, cold, and the destructive power of the northern wind. His representation as a winged, powerful figure capable of carrying away the Athenian princess Oreithyia was one of the most dramatic of the Greek wind myths. Waterhouse's engagement with this subject gave him an opportunity for the kind of dramatic figure in extreme atmospheric conditions that suited his mature style.

Waterhouse renders Boreas with the dynamic figure treatment and atmospheric drama that characterized his most ambitious mythological subjects — the wind god's powerful form in the moment of his manifestation or action, the surrounding atmospheric conditions (perhaps the rushing of wind, the movement of clouds or drapery) creating the physical presence of the divine wind. His handling of the figure's movement and the atmospheric turbulence around him gives the mythological subject its visual energy.