01 Paintings and tales of Mermaids, with Footnotes, 6a

 Gioacchino Pagliei

The Naiads, c. 1881

Oil on Canvas

In Greek mythology, the Naiads were a type of female water nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. 

Naiads were associated with fresh water, as the Oceanids, the sea nymphs who were the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, were with saltwater, and the Nereids specifically with the Mediterranean.

A popular Greek legend turned Alexander the Great's sister, Thessalonike, into a mermaid after her death. Living in the Aegean, she would ask the sailors on any ship she would encounter only one question: "Is King Alexander alive?", to which the correct answer was: "He lives and reigns and conquers the world". This answer would please her, and she would accordingly calm the waters and bid the ship farewell. Any other answer would enrage her, and she would stir up a terrible storm, dooming the ship and every sailor on board.

Gioacchino Pagliei (born 1852 in Subiaco, Lazio, died 1896 in Rome) was an Italian painter who worked in the Neo-Pompeian genre. He studied in Rome at the Accademia di San Luca, where in 1871 he won an award for a drawing and essay. In 1875, he won the Stanziani competition.

A follower of F. Grandi, he worked on the decoration of the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. He also worked at the Palazzo del Quirinale and the Villino Gamberini.

His oil painting style followed the Neo-Pompeian genre.

He was introduced to the Società degli Amatori e Cultori delle Belle Arti in the 1880s where he exhibited A Costume of the Empire, 1882; The Embarrassment, 1884; and Nella scala, 1895-1896. More on Gioacchino Pagliei

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

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