Musidora: The Bather 'At the Doubtful Breeze Alarmed'

Musidora: The Bather 'At the Doubtful Breeze Alarmed'  is the name of four oil paintings by English painter William Etty. These paintings are also known as The Bather. They illustrate a scene of a poem by James Thomson called Summer. The poem was written in 1727. In the poem, Thomson describes a young man who accidentally sees a woman bathing naked in a river. The man is torn: on the one hand, the woman is beautiful, and he wants to look at her. On the other, he knows that watching naked women is not right, and he should look away. The scene was popular with English artists of the time: It allowed them to paint nudes, even though at the time, nudity was frowned upon.

The four paintings are almost identical. The only thing where they are different is how the show small details in the background landscape. The first version was exhibited in 1843. Two versions are in public collections, one in Tate Britain and the other in the Manchester Art Gallery; one of these was painted in 1844 and first exhibited in 1846 and the other was painted at around the same time; it is not known which is the version shown in 1846.  A fourth version is of poorer quality and may be a later copy by a student.

When it was first exhibited, Musidora was well received: People said it was among the best works of the artist. Etty died in 1849. His work was soon forgotten. At the same time, the subject of Musidora became a cliché. Fromn the 1870s, Thomsons works were forgotten. Etty's painting likely influencend other artists. The Knight Errant by John Everett Mills has a similar subject. 

Category:1840s paintings