Sir Frederic Leighton (1830-1896). "The Garden of Herespides" / 1891-2. Oil on canvas, diameter: 169 cm (66.5 inches). Housed at Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom. —On mythology and etymology— In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides from their reputed father, the Titan Atlas. Hesperides means "originating from Hesperos" (evening). Hesperos, or "Vesper" in Latin, is the origin of the name Hesperus, the evening star (i.e. the planet Venus) as well as having a shared root with the English word "west". —On the painting— " 'The Garden of the Hesperides' depicts the three daughters of Hesperus or the God of Evening, the Hesperides, resting. The picture draws its theme from the ancient myth in which the Hesperides were assigned by the Goddess Hera (Juno) to guard the golden apples which she had been given on her wedding to Zeus by Earth (Zeus' mother). "The theft of the apples is well known as one of the Heracles' Ten Labours. In the painting, the Hesperides sing to the unsleeping dragon (or snake), Ladon, in the garden at the end of the world where the apples were kept. The long sinuous curves of the snake, of the swan’s neck and of the girls’ arms are reflected in the shape of the painting. "Flat patterns predominated, particularly in the intricate flutter of the central girl’s drapery. The result is an image of classical perfection and balance – all the more precious as soon Hercules will steal the apples and bring strife to the world. Leighton was the leading artist of the classical revival, here represented in its late, very formal, stage. "The lavish colours of the painting and the beauty of the scene make it extremely difficult to predict the invasion of Hercules, the slaying of the dragon and theft of the apples. [...] "Leighton who had a classical education, surely knew the m...