This is the image I wanted to show you in class on Wednesday, an 1896 painting by John William Waterhouse titled Hylas and the Nymphs. Properly speaking the feminine figures are naiads– spirits of fresh water– rather than Nereids, who belong to the sea.

While I was looking for this image I came across another, also painted by Waterhouse, titled A Naiad:

Recently the first of these paintings was the subject of some small controversy when the Manchester Art Gallery removed it from display. See https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/31/manchester-art-gallery-removes-waterhouse-naked-nymphs-painting-prompt-conversation