Ariadne 1888 - 1890

Editor: This is George Frederic Watts' "Ariadne," from the Harvard Art Museums. The figure, and her gaze, seem heavy with a sense of melancholy. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ariadne, abandoned, embodies the lonely figure, doesn't she? Notice the vine leaves—a symbol of her association with Dionysus, yet there's a deeper pull here, a cultural memory of betrayal. Do you feel that sense of timeless sorrow? Editor: I do. Is that sorrow also echoed in the muted colors? Curator: Precisely. It's not just sorrow, but the weight of repeated stories, the cycle of abandonment. Myths are never truly past. Editor: So, seeing her is seeing all the abandoned? Curator: In a way, yes. Watts uses Ariadne as a vessel, a figure we can fill with our own experiences of loss and waiting. Editor: That’s a very powerful perspective. I see so much more now.