Le Poète Et La Sirène, 1893 

Gustave Moreau made this oil painting of a poet and a siren in France in 1893. It depicts a mermaid towering over a poet. The poem engages with the historical trope of the Siren: she's a mythical figure, who lures sailors to their doom with song. Moreau was a leading figure in the Symbolist movement. The Symbolists were suspicious of the industrialization and modernization of Europe, they were wary of the new focus on scientific reasoning. They wanted to explore other ways of knowing, such as mythology, dreams, the occult, and the unconscious. They had a fraught relationship to the art establishment and the official salons, developing alternative exhibition venues such as the Salon des Refusés. To understand this painting, we can research the Symbolist movement, the artist's biography, and the function of mythology in 19th century Europe. By doing so, we can better appreciate the social context which gave rise to this distinctive style.