Feb 28
Les Oréades (The Oreads), (Details), (1902), by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French, 1825 – 1905), oil on canvas, 237.5 cm × 181.5 cm (93.5 in × 71.5 in), Musée d’Orsay, Paris
#Les Oréades#The Oreads#William-Adolphe Bouguereau#painting#my upload#oil on canvas#painting detail#detail#painting details#art#fine art#20th century#academic#mythology#mythological painting#greek mythology#Oreads—Greek mythological nymphs of mountains and grottoes—ascending into the sky#Symbolizing ethereal beauty and purity the scene captures dawn’s first light#observing satyrs represent earthy instinctual nature highlighting a contrast between divine and terrestrial realms#In Greek mythology Oreads were companions to Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology) the goddess of the hunt#They were known as lively spirits who inhabited rugged rocky terrains#The painting uses a deliberate visual contrast between the luminousuntouchable beauty of the rising nymphs#and the darker grounded tones of the satyrs below#This has been interpreted as representing the dual aspects of human nature: the divine/spiritual versus the instinctive/sinful
