John William Waterhouse, English
Aphrodite Using Her 9-Iron Out of a Water Hazard, 1872
Oil on canvas
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R.I.P. Maynard Brandt (1946-2025)
M.A. Brandt Worked long and hard to make this site a success. Although he rarely commented, his comments were valuable. He will be missed, and not forgotten. Condolences to those who knew and loved him.
// In a fountain she stands, soaking wet.
Wrings her hands, and her face looks upset.
There’s a mystical debt
she is owed (and will get).
To her husband, Undine is a threat.
/// She’s a sprite— “Elemental” of water.
Found by humans and raised as their daughter.
To be wed was her goal
and by this gain a soul,
but a husband who cheats she must slaughter.
/// The knight Huldbrand had married this sprite,
but soon sensed something wasn’t quite right.
In the Danube she fell,
not to drown, but to dwell.
Could she come back? In water she might.
/// Now that Undine was not by his side,
Huldbrand fell for and took a new bride.
At their Schloss ‘neath the mountain,
they unplugged the old fountain.
Here’s Undine, primed for maritricide.
/// She’d been given a soul that’s immortal,
granting entry through Saint Peter’s portal.
If fidelity’s lost,
then her soul is the cost.
Listen hard… you may hear Satan chortle.
Now that the invaluable Maynard Brandt is sadly no longer here to provide the facts, and due to a combination of my own primitive research skills and laziness, I may never know for sure what is being depicted in today’s painting.
It has several different titles online including “Lady in Fountain,” “Ondine,” and “Undine,” and I found one indication that this could be a scene from an 1811 fairytale novella called Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. It had been translated into many languages including English and was very possibly known by Waterhouse. The plot of that novella was the basis of my limericks above, but it is likely that readers unfamiliar with the story (or the many other works based on it) will be confused by my attempt to put it in verse.
As described in the writings of Paracelsus, “elementals” are spirit creatures associated with earth (gnomes), air (sylphs), water (undines), or fire (salamanders). They can take human form, but are soulless and denied heaven. If however, a human were to marry one of them, it would gain a soul and a shorter human lifespan. The catch is that if the spouse is unfaithful,the elemental will automatically relinquish its soul and perish, but not before killing the cheater.
In Fouqué’s tale, Undine is adopted by the parents of a human child, Bertalda, thought to have drowned. Her plan, aided by her water sprite family, is to marry a man so as to eventually get into heaven. That man is Huldbrand, who falls for Undine despite having previously flirted with the Duke’s foster daughter, who turns out to be the same (not drowned) Bertalda. Circumstances cause Bertalda to move into the castle with the newlyweds. Undine has their fountain sealed up to prevent her trouble-making uncle from gaining access to the castle. Other circumstances cause Undine to jump into the Danube after warning Huldbrand to remain faithful. Of course, he later marries Bertalda. On their wedding night the bride orders the fountain unsealed so she can have a drink. Undine magically appears (as shown by Waterhouse) and goes to Huldbrand. While kissing him she cries so much that he drowns in her tears. Shortly afterwards soulless Undine perishes and turns into a stream that circles the grave of her husband.