Protection against illness or evil - Pandora by John William Waterhouse

Pandora

Context

In this image I will be looking into the idea of the protection against evil. Evil could be perceived as something morally wrong or bad it tends to cause great harm or destruction and is believed to be void of conscience. The image in question portrays a tale from Greek mythology with the scene of Pandora’s Box. The myth is such that Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora as part of a punishment to man kind.

"The gods endowed her with many talents: Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. This was the reason for her name Pandora which means 'all-gifted'"

- Wikipedia

After Hephaestus created Pandora he gave her a box that she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by the curiosity instilled in her, Pandora opened the box and allowed all the evil contained to escape and spread over the earth, although one thing remained at the bottom of the box and that was hope.

Actual Meaning

This image illustrates the Greek myth of Pandora at the point in which she opens the box and lets all evil out to spread across the world.

What the piece means to me

I feel this image symbolises innocence in the face of unknown dangers because of the figure of the young woman used to portray the character Pandora. Turner has given her a very pale complexion to enhance the feeling of purity and naivety while her posture and facial expressions show her inner curiosity. Out of one side of her box what looks like a cloud of dust or smoke is escaping and I think this is to represent the evil spreading over the world.

Materials used and how they compliment the meaning

This composition was created using oil paints on canvas, I think this helps to create the rich colours of the background scenes as well as the gold of the box and the pureness of the character’s skin. I think if the colours weren’t as bold and pure the image wouldn’t be able to convey the messages of innocence, curiosity and evil and so the piece as a whole would not be as effective.

Overall Judgement

Overall I feel this image portrays the myth of Pandora well as it symbolises all the emotions and features of the story by the choice of media and the way the scene is laid out. Also the character used to portray her helps to enhance the symbolism because of her posture, facial expressions and the colours Turner used for her.

My Response's

The two images below are my experiments drawn in response to the painting of Pandora’s Box above. My drawing portrays the box just as it is opened, the black lines portray the evil and the swirls the confusion spread after the world is affected. I originally drew the 1rst image in pencil to create depth and shading, I then added the details with a fine liner. The second was created using Photoshop, after scanning in my original drawing of the image I added a black layer with an exclusion format. The results of the digital manipulation created a more striking, mystical affect because of the shading around the lines. Overall I feel the second composition is more appropriate as a response to Waterhouse’s image as it symbolises the idea of evil in a more superior design.

1rst Design

2nd Design