MODELS AND MERMAIDS

ONE of the most beautiful mermaids in literature is probably the mermaid in "The Fisherman and his Soul," a fairy-tale by Oscar Wilde. Check out this amazing description! "Her hair was a wet fleece of gold ... and her tail was of silver and pearl ... her lips were like sea-coral ... So beautiful was she..."

The ending of the fairy-tale is unacceptable, however. Mermaids have unhappy endings in literature as in, famously, Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid".

If you are interested in mermaid stories with a happier ending, I totally recommend Alice Hoffman's Aquamarine and Indigo, two novellas found in her collection with the title Water Tales!

One of the best paintings with mermaids is, for me, the painting I have here by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John William Waterhouse.

It's so true to life, that I wonder if he somehow persuaded a real mermaid to model for him!

I also love it that the mermaid combs her hair and has her little box of jewelry, spending time to take care of her beauty like all of us women -- human or not!!!!!!!