Who painted the 1896 oil painting Pandora, showing the mythological figure with her vessel?

John William Waterhouse painted the 1896 oil painting Pandora.

Waterhouse was an English painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite tradition and late Victorian academic art. His Pandora presents the mythological figure beside the container that carries the story’s danger. The painting uses a carefully staged, atmospheric figure composition typical of Waterhouse’s mythological subjects.

Waterhouse repeatedly drew on classical mythology, literary narratives, and medieval themes. His paintings often place a solitary woman at the center of a dramatic moment, using color, costume, and setting to suggest a story rather than illustrate every event literally.

The painting is sometimes discussed alongside Waterhouse’s better-known works such as The Lady of Shalott and Hylas and the Nymphs. Identifying the artist is important because several Victorian painters—including Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Edward Burne-Jones—also treated classical subjects, making attribution an easy point of confusion.