Danaids1.0064_Weguelin

John Reinhard Weguelin, 1849-1927, "The Labor of the Danaids", oil on canvas, exhibited 1878 at the British Royal Academy. Now in private collection.

This painting depicts the daughters of Danaus toiling at their redundantly futile eternal punishment. In the world of the dead, they draw and try to transport water in unfit vessels. Remarkable here is the figure of the vessel into which the perpetually unwed women pour their water. For cultural context, see
Kestner, Joseph A. 1989. Mythology and Misogyny: the social discourse of nineteenth-century British classical-subject painting. University of Wisconsin Press.

The painting was offered to the British Academy in 1878. see:
Baldry, Alfred Lys. 1904. "J. R. Weguelin and his Work." The International Studio, 24:192-200 = InternetArchive

For more complete explication, see Tessa Haney (forthcoming MA thesis).