Paintings of nymphs in the nineteenth and the early twentieth century European art are a visual eyecandy. A very famous example, and one very dear to my heart, is the 1896 painting ‘Hylas and the Nymphs’ by a late Pre-Raphaelite Victorian master John William Waterhouse. The nymphs in the paintings are presented as free-spirited hippie gals, with their sensual naked bodies, and long hair adorned with flowers. They are playful and often naughty, frivolous and indolent. Likewise, their visual counterparts, the gopis in Hindu mythology and visually in Indian miniature art, mainly in the Pahari paintings, are beautiful cowherd girls who live in the Braj area around the river Yamuna. They are the devotees of the Lord Krishna and they have complete adoration for him. Krishna loves them too, but he is also naughty and playful and loves to play tricks on them. One of such tricks is that he secretly steals their clothes while they are bathing in the river. There are many visual portrayals of this scene in the examples bellow and usually Krishna is seen sitting on the branch of the tree and dangling his legs cheekily while the gopis are pleading, protesting and some even look as if they are having nervous breakdowns.
Fig.1 Gopis demanding their clothes from Krishna, Kangra, c 1800 by Vastra Haran
Fig.2 Hylas and the Nymphs, 1896 by John William Waterhouse
Fig.2a
Bathing In Rivers
Something that nymphs and gopis have in common is their connection to nature; nymphs live in forests and love to be around water while gopis live around the Yamuna river. Pastoral settings with the river, lush greenery, tropical trees and flowers are always seen in the paintings with gopis. Both gopis and nymphs embody the youthful beauty and sensuality. Nymphs in art are always depicted as young beautiful and sensual women who are often caught in moments of playful abandon; either bathing in rivers or engaging in intimate, sensual encounters with men, Gods or mortals. Similarly, the gopis in the Kangra art are depicted as radiant young women who love to decorate their bodies with jewellery or bathe naked in the river.
Fig.3 Krishna Steals the Gopis' Clothing, 1775-1800
Fig.3a
Fig.4. Hylas and the Water Nymphs, 1910 by Henrietta Rae
Immoral Seducers
Both nymphs in European art and gopis in Indian art represent unattainable beauty and idealized femininity. Still, the eroticism of nymphs is of an earthly kind while the eroticism of gopis is of a spiritual kind. Nymphs can be seen innocent but they are often not just naughty girls but immoral seducers. On the contrast, gopis are eternally, devastatingly drawn to Krishna only. They love and adore him, thinking of no one else. Nymphs are too mercurial and changeable for such dedication and steadfastness. Nymphs in European art are often depicted in graceful, fluid and dynamic poses that emphasises their connection to nature, in particular to water. They are often seen dancing, swimming or running through forests. Similarly, the gopis in these paintings are painted as graceful, slender, very pale women, and their bodies are painted moving naturally and gracefully in and even under the water.
Fig.5 Advert for ‘Ondine Bath Dew’, Cosmopolitan, July 1975
Fig.6 The Gopis Plead with Krishna to Return Their Clothing, Page from a Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Stories of Lord Vishnu) series, 1610
Fig.6a
In the Premium edition of the article more on the paintings ‘Gopies Demanding Their Clothes from Krishna’ and ‘Krishna Steals the Gopis’ Clothing’, Waterhouse and Henrietta Rae's versions of Hylas and the Nymphs, the 1975 advert for ‘Ondine Bath Dew’ from Cosmopolitan, Gaston Noury’s illustration of a nymph, the depiction of the playful side of nymphs and gopis, the similarities between the two mythological figures, and more...!!
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