Echo and Narcissus
John William Waterhouse (1849 to 1917), 1903
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 10 x 8 in, Wrong shape: a 29% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyThe cruellest arrangement in Greek myth, painted as a quiet afternoon by a stream. Narcissus lies on the bank absorbed in his own reflection; Echo sits opposite, watching him, cursed to repeat others and unable to call out. The two are close enough to touch and will never meet. Waterhouse fills the space between them with cool green water, iris leaves and a scattering of the white narcissus flowers he will become. Everything is soft, sunlit and doomed. A painting about the particular loneliness of loving someone who is already looking at something else.
- Maker
- John William Waterhouse (1849 to 1917)
- Date
- 1903
- Medium of the original
- Painting
- Original held by
- Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
- Credit
- Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-00625
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 10 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 29% crop |
| 12 x 8 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 14 x 11 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 16 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 18 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 20 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 29% crop |
| 24 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 24 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 30 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 30 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 29% crop |
| 36 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 40 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 48 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 24% crop |
| 60 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 9,806 x 5,594 px, srgb, c2
- Tone
- Darks 24, lights 222 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 61.48
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