The Little Mermaid in paintings and illustrations

Little Mermaid is one of the most famous fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen and undoubtedly the most popular mermaid in the world. Great Danish story teller wrote it in 1837 basing it on then very popular yet today almost forgotten novel Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque.

The tragic and beautiful story of Little Mermaid with many autobiographic elements from Andersen's life inspired numerous painters and illustrators to portray the most touching scenes from the story. Some made one, others a few and others a whole set of pictures on the theme of naive little mermaid who falls in love with a prince and is willing to sacrificw everything just to be with him.

Here is a growing collection of such examples:

Ivan Iakovlevich Bilibin created a whole picture book about the little mermaid which was first published in Paris, France, where he lived, in 1937. You can see all the black and white and colored pictures, together with some additional decor by Bilibin here.

Henry Holiday (1839-1927) created a series of four paintings with characteristic scenes from the fairy tale.