Thisbe (1909) | John William Waterhouse | Painting Art Print | Wall Frame

Thisbe depicts a scene from one of Waterhouse’s favorite sources, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In Book IV, the Roman author sets his story in ancient Babylon, where the maiden Thisbe falls in love with her neighbor, Pyramus. Their parents forbid the relationship, forcing them to exchange vows of fidelity through a crack in the wall shared by their families’ houses.

The couple decide to elope with tragic consequences; agreeing to meet at Ninus's tomb, Thisbe arrives first, but flees when she sees a lioness approaching. Pyramus subsequently arrives and finds the tracks of a lioness and Thisbe’s shawl. Believing that Thisbe is dead, Pyramus thrusts his sword into his belly, killing himself. Thisbe returns, sees what has happened, and also kills herself, their blood reddening the fruit of the white mulberry bush at which they were to meet; hence mulberries acquire their distinctive hue in perpetuity.