DEPTHS OF THE SEA (1887) † NCM 1900-675 Mermaids were seen as seductive and dangerous, sparking both fear and fascination in equal measure. They are similar to the Sirens from Classical mythology, who use their voices to lure sailors to their death. They serve as a warning to those living weakwilled and lustful lives, who are easily seduced by charm and beauty and for whom a bad end awaits.
In this work we see a smiling mermaid hauling the dead body of a naked young man to the bottom of the sea. With its warped forms, wavering lights and monochrome dimness, the painting is evocative of the strange seaways of underwater life. In fact, Burne-Jones was so determined to get these underwater effects right that he borrowed a large glass tank from another British Pre-Raphaelite artist, Henry Holiday, filled it with water, and used it as a prop to paint from in his studio.
The face of the model is that of Octavia Laura Lyttleton (née Tennant), wife of politician and sportsman Alfred Lyttleton, who died in childbirth in 1886 while the oil painting was being produced. Laura, as she was better known, was noted for her beauty and intellect, and was one of a string of young women that Burne-Jones doted on and used as his model. Georgiana noted that "in our house she so fascinated us all that we called her ‘The Siren’’’.
This painting is more than an eerie scene of mermaid mythology or a demonstration of the artist’s technical skill; it can also be seen as a psychological exploration of fear, desire, and fatal attraction.
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