works

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Wellcome Café

Wellcome Kitchen

Wellcome Shop

We’ll have reduced opening hours from Thursday 18 until Saturday 20 August, due to strike action affecting UK transport networks. The galleries, Reading Room and café will close at 17:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The library will close at 17:00 on Thursday and Friday, and at 16:00 as usual on Saturday. Please check our opening times for more information.

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

Narcissus is shown looking at his reflection in a pool, as described in Ovid, Metamorphoses III.407-510. Ovid says that Narcissus had deceived nymphs of both waters and mountains ("alias undis aut montibus ortas / luserat hic nymphas", vv. 402-403), and, using the same taxonomy, that his wasting away was mourned by both naiads (the nymphs of the pool) and dryads (nymphs of the woods): "Planxere sorores / naides et sectos fratri posuere capillos, / planxerunt dryades: plangentibus adsonat Echo"(vv. 505-507). Claude shows two women watching Narcissus from the trees: they are the dryads or mountain nymphs, the guardians of the woods. A woman reclining by the pool in the foreground has as her attribute a jug from which water is flowing: she is one of the naiads or water nymphs, the guardians of the pool. Echo is not shown corporeally, as her body had wasted away leaving only her voice ("vox manet", v. 399)
In the distance, a drover drives livestock over a bridge: they are in the distance because the pool was not approached by any shepherds or flocks (Ovid, op. cit. vv. 408-409, "quem neque pastores neque pastae monte capellae / contigerant, aliudve pecus). In the far distance is a view to the sea. Right, a castle on a cliff
The naiad in the foreground reclines in a pose based on that of the statue called Cleopatra or Ariadne, in the Vatican (F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the antique. The lure of classical sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London 1981, pp. 184-187, no. 24). The setting is supposed to be Greece but is based on Ovid's description of the scene interpreted through Claude's views of the Roman Campagna

1 print : etching, with engraving ; platemark 31.8 x 41 cm

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool, watched by nymphs. Etching by F. Vivares, 1743, after Claude Lorraine.

1 print : engraving ; platemark 41.3 x 26.2 cm

Narcissus and Echo. Engraving by F. Bartolozzi, 1791, after B. Luti.

Narcissus and Cupid. Etching.

1 print : engraving, with etching ; platemark 20.2 x 15 cm

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool surrounded by trees. Engraving by W. Walker, 1775, after C. Monnet.

According to the lettering, the bas relief of Dionysiac celebrants was in the Palazzo Rondanini, and the bas relief of Narcissus was in the Orti Mattei

1 print : etching ; platemark 17.8 x 29.7 cm

Wellcome uses cookies.

More filters

Active filters:

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool, watched by nymphs. Etching by F. Vivares, 1743, after Claude Lorraine.

Narcissus and Echo. Engraving by F. Bartolozzi, 1791, after B. Luti.

Narcissus and Cupid. Etching.

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool surrounded by trees. Engraving by W. Walker, 1775, after C. Monnet.

Left, a faun and a maenad drunk on wine, dancing; right, Narcissus looking at his reflection in water. Etching by L. Roccheggiani, ca. 1811.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Search the collections

More filters

Active filters:

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool, watched by nymphs. Etching by F. Vivares, 1743, after Claude Lorraine.

Narcissus and Echo. Engraving by F. Bartolozzi, 1791, after B. Luti.

Narcissus and Cupid. Etching.

Narcissus looking at his reflection in a pool surrounded by trees. Engraving by W. Walker, 1775, after C. Monnet.

Left, a faun and a maenad drunk on wine, dancing; right, Narcissus looking at his reflection in water. Etching by L. Roccheggiani, ca. 1811.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection