Howard Pyle, The Mermaid, 1910

In 1910 Pyle travelled from the US to study in Florence, Italy, but he unexpectedly died of a kidney infection while there. He left this painting unfinished on his easel back in the US, so we’ll never know how he intended to finish it. The painting depicts a mermaid rescuing a young sailor who was shipwrecked. She gently lifts his heavy body onto the rock, thereby saving his life.

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