John William Waterhouse’s 1896 painting depicting Pandora with her famous jar is titled Pandora. Waterhouse was an English painter associated with the later Pre-Raphaelite tradition, and the work presents Pandora at the moment surrounding the opening of the vessel.
The painting shows Pandora seated in a dark, wooded setting while reaching toward the container. Its atmosphere emphasizes suspense and the danger hidden inside an apparently ordinary object. Waterhouse’s treatment reflects the Victorian interest in literary and mythological subjects, especially stories that allowed artists to combine beauty, symbolism, and psychological tension.
The work is often reproduced simply under the title Pandora, so it can be confused with other paintings and illustrations inspired by the same myth. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Jules Joseph Lefebvre also created works titled Pandora, but they are different artists and different paintings.
Waterhouse’s image belongs to the long afterlife of the myth rather than to ancient Greek art. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” also reflects later retelling, since Hesiod’s original container was a large jar.