Sea Idyll

The merman has grabbed the seal firmly by the scruff of its neck. His child gawps in astonishment at the catch, while the mother only just keeps hold of a sleeping infant. Böcklin’s Sea Idyll can be interpreted as a bourgeois family, from whom the painter distances himself with subtle irony. Instead of a table, the family has gathered around a rock, while still assuming the classic gender roles: the man is the family’s breadwinner, the woman looks after the children. Yet this family is free from social norms and constraints. The nude merfolk move through their element, water, without shame, but also with no overt displays of eroticism.

Not on display