Danaë
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"While preparations were being made, the damsel sat in a room looking up at a certain painting, in which was represented how Jove is said once to have sent a golden shower into the bosom of Danaë." --Terence's Eunuch[1] |
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In Greek mythology, Danaë was the mother of Perseus by Zeus. Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, her father asked an oracle if this would change. The oracle told him to go to the Earth's end where he would be killed by his daughter's child. She was childless and, meaning to keep her so, he shut her up in a bronze tower or cave. But Zeus came to her in the form of golden rain, and impregnated her. Soon after, their child Perseus was born.
Painting
Danaë being impregnated by Zeus, who comes to her in the form of golden rain (see Danaë for the explanation of this Greek myth) was a subject for several well-known paintings. Among them are:
- Titian's Danaë[2]
- Rembrandt's Danaë
- Gustav Klimt's Danaë
- Danaë (Correggio)'s painting of Danaë, c.1531, [3]
- Danaë (Mabuse)[4] by Jan Mabuse, Alte Pinakothek, München
See also