Hylas in the Depths

The Greek myth of Hylas tells of a soldier, who while retrieving water for his men, was overcome with desire at the sight of female water nymphs and was subsequently drowned by them. Here Hylas is portrayed in either eternal bliss or a purgatorial nightmare, amidst an abyss of perverse, anthropoid-like creatures inspired by Goya’s ink drawing ‘Gathering of Witches’ (c.1799), and a copied portion from Francesco Furini's ‘Hylas and the Nymphs’(c.1632).