This canvas by a late 17th-century painter is part of a group of four works, all at the Museo del Prado (P191, P3196, P3197 and P3198), that express the idea of the Elements through motives drawn from classical mythology. According to R. López Torrijos (1985), Water is embodied here by Ocean’s sister and wife, Thetis, who was queen of the seas. A crown and scepter underline her royal character, and she is accompanied by a dolphin and an enormous conch shell, as well as small seashells and snails that allude to the oceanic realm, and thus, to water. López Torrijos also points out that in 17^th -century Spain, Palomino confused Neptune with Ocean, thereby making Thetis Neptune’s wife. This further emphasizes Thetis’s value as an allegory of Water. Painted by the same artist as Earth (P3196) and with the same character, this work is also very close to those of Claudio Coello.

This important series has never received critical attention, yet it is especially interesting as an example of the artistic situation in circles close to the Madrid court during the final years of the 17th century. They reflect much of Carreño’s approach through Claudio Coello and Ruiz de la Iglesia, with clear but already distant echoes of Venetian and Flemish painting, and even knowledge of Luca Giordano, whose works are known to have been at the Madrid court since at least the late sixteen-fifties. These four works cannot be confidently attributed to any known artist and there are even some differences among them. The Air is attributed to Giordano, while the other three are always listed as anonymous, without mention of their school or possible circle.

Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Carreño, Rizi, Herrera y la pintura madrileña de su tiempo, Madrid, Ministerio de Cultura. Banco Herrero, 1986, p.350