Mermaids have long inspired artists with their combination of beauty, mystery, and danger.
Particularly popular in Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite art, these mythical sea creatures appear in paintings ranging from romantic coastal scenes to darker stories of sailors being lured beneath the waves.
Famous Mermaid Paintings
1. A Mermaid – John William Waterhouse, 1900
Waterhouse’s A Mermaid is one of the most famous artistic depictions of the mythical sea creature. It shows a red-haired mermaid sitting beside the water, quietly combing her long hair as her tail curls across the rocks.
The scene is peaceful rather than threatening. Pearls, shells, water, and the mermaid’s flowing hair reinforce her connection with the sea while creating the detailed, romantic atmosphere for which Waterhouse became famous.
Although painted in 1900, the work strongly reflects the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites. Its combination of natural detail, mythology, beauty, and mystery has made it an enduring image of the mermaid in Western art.
2. The Mermaid – Howard Pyle, 1910
Howard Pyle’s The Mermaid shows a mysterious mermaid embracing a sailor beside the sea. Waves surround the figures, giving the scene a dramatic atmosphere that feels like a moment taken directly from a legend.
Pyle was famous for illustrating stories about pirates, sailors, adventure, and fantasy. Here, he leaves the relationship between the two figures deliberately uncertain—the mermaid might be rescuing the sailor or drawing him toward danger.
Pyle died before the painting was completely finished, and his student Frank Schoonover later completed it. The work remains one of Pyle’s best-known fantasy paintings.
3. The Depths of the Sea – Edward Burne-Jones, 1887
Burne-Jones presents a darker version of mermaid mythology in The Depths of the Sea. A mermaid carries a young man downward through the water, suggesting that he has been taken from the human world.
The painting combines beauty with danger, a recurring theme in Victorian representations of mythical women. The mermaid appears calm while the man’s pale body emphasizes his vulnerability.
Burne-Jones was closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement and frequently explored legends and mythology. Here, the ocean becomes a mysterious supernatural world from which the sailor may never return.
4. The Siren – John William Waterhouse, c. 1900
Waterhouse’s The Siren depicts a beautiful mythical woman sitting above a sailor struggling in the water. She holds a musical instrument, connecting the scene with ancient stories of sirens using enchanting music to lure sailors.
Unlike the winged sirens sometimes found in ancient Greek art, Waterhouse gives his figure a distinctly mermaid-like appearance. This reflects the way sirens and mermaids gradually became intertwined in later European art.
The painting combines attraction and danger. The siren is beautiful and composed, while the vulnerable sailor below suggests the potentially deadly consequences of falling under her spell.
5. The Fisherman and the Syren – Frederic Leighton, c. 1856–1858
Frederic Leighton’s The Fisherman and the Syren was inspired by Goethe’s poem The Fisherman. It depicts a beautiful siren embracing a young fisherman beside the water.
The closeness of the figures makes the scene appear romantic at first. However, the original story introduces a darker meaning, as the supernatural woman attempts to lure the fisherman into the water.
Leighton combines mythology with the elegant treatment of the human figure that would characterize much of his career. The result is a painting that balances romance, temptation, and danger.
6. The Sea Maidens – Evelyn De Morgan, 1885–1886
Evelyn De Morgan’s The Sea Maidens depicts a group of graceful female figures surrounded by the sea. Their flowing hair and closely grouped bodies give the painting a dreamlike, otherworldly appearance.
Rather than emphasizing the frightening side of sea mythology, De Morgan creates an enchanting scene. The figures seem to belong completely to their watery environment, separated from the ordinary human world.
De Morgan frequently combined mythology with symbolism in her paintings. The Sea Maidens reflects her interest in imaginative subjects while also showing the influence of Pre-Raphaelite art.
7. Mermaid – Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann, 1873
Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann’s Mermaid presents the mythical creature resting beside the sea. The figure is treated with considerable naturalism, making her appear almost like a real inhabitant of the rocky coastline.
The surrounding landscape plays an important role in the painting. Rocks and water create a believable setting while also emphasizing the mermaid’s connection with the wild and mysterious ocean.
Jerichau-Baumann was a Danish-Polish painter known for portraits and historical subjects. Her interpretation of the mermaid combines academic painting traditions with the 19th century’s fascination with mythology.
8. Ulysses and the Sirens – Herbert James Draper, 1909
Herbert James Draper’s Ulysses and the Sirens illustrates one of the most famous episodes from Homer’s Odyssey. Ulysses is tied to the mast of his ship while supernatural sirens attempt to tempt him.
Draper portrays the sirens as beautiful mermaid-like women rising dramatically from the sea. Their bodies surround the ship, creating a sense of movement and immediate danger.
The painting demonstrates how closely mermaids and classical sirens had become connected by the early 20th century. Draper’s dramatic composition turns the ancient story into a spectacular fantasy scene.
9. The Land Baby – John Collier, 1899
John Collier’s The Land Baby offers an unusual variation on traditional mermaid imagery. A mermaid emerges from the water and looks curiously toward a human baby standing on the shore.
Instead of portraying the mermaid as a dangerous seductress, Collier makes her the curious observer. The title humorously suggests that, from the mermaid’s perspective, a human child is an unfamiliar “land baby.”
This reversal gives the painting a lighter quality than many Victorian mermaid scenes. It presents the meeting between land and sea as an encounter driven by curiosity rather than danger.
10. In Strange Seas – George W. Maynard
George W. Maynard’s In Strange Seas depicts a group of mermaids playing among the waves as a sailing ship appears in the distance. The unusual scene combines mythology with the drama and mystery of the open ocean.
Rather than presenting the mermaids simply as dangerous creatures, Maynard portrays them as playful inhabitants of their own hidden marine world. Their graceful figures contrast with the restless water surrounding them.
The painting reflects the late 19th-century fascination with mermaids, sirens, and other mythological sea creatures. Maynard returned to similar subjects in works titled Sirens and A Sea Witch.