A Neapolitan flax spinner 1877

John William Waterhouse painted "A Neapolitan Flax Spinner" with oil on canvas, capturing a scene from late 19th-century Italy. Waterhouse, positioned within the Pre-Raphaelite movement, often portrayed women in classical, historical, or mythological settings. Here, we see a young woman engaged in the traditional craft of flax spinning. The intimate scale of the painting draws us into her personal space, yet it’s impossible to ignore how the depiction of labor intersects with gender and class. The work invites us to reflect on the lives of working-class women in Southern Europe. Waterhouse captures a certain dignity, yet there is an undercurrent of melancholy in her gaze, perhaps hinting at the socio-economic realities that confined her. Through Waterhouse’s romantic lens, this flax spinner becomes a symbol of both the beauty and the burdens of her time.