Danae

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Danäe is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Correggio, executed around 1531 and housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

The work was commissioned by the Duke of Mantua Federico II Gonzaga, as a part of a series portraying Jupiter's loves, perhaps destined to the Ovid Hall in the Palazzo Te of Mantua. After Federico's death it went to Spain.

The painting portrays the Greek mythological figure Danäe, the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos. After an oracle forecast that Acrisius would be killed by her son, he had her jailed in a bronze tower. However, as told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Jupiter reached her in the form of a gold rain and made her mother to Perseus.

Correggio portrays Danäe lying on a bed, while a child Eros undresses her as gold rains from a cloud. At the foot of the bed, two putti are testing gold and lead arrows against a stone.

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The Danaë (sometimes known as Danaë and the Shower of Gold) series comprises at least five oil-on-canvas paintings by the Venetian master Titian, completed between 1553 and 1556. The works are based on the mythological princess Danaë. According to Ovid she was isolated in a bronze dungeon following a prophecy that her firstborn would eventually kill her father.Although aware of the consequences, Danaë was seduced and became pregnant by Zeus (in Roman mythology Jupiter), who, inflamed by lust, descended from Mount Olympus to entice her as a shower of gold

The Madrid version was commissioned by Philip II as part of a series of mythological paintings described by Titian as "poesie" ("poems").According to Greek mythology known by Titian through Ovid's telling, when Acrisius consulted the oracle on how he would get male children, he was told that his daughter would bear a son who would kill him. Acrisius then locked up and guarded his daughter Danaë in a subterranean dungeon. Danaë, aware of the consequences, allowed herself to be seduced and impregnated by Zeus, who persuaded her to lower her defences by appearing in the form of a shower of gold.

When Acrisius learned of Danaë's son Perseus, he refused to believe Zeus's role, and cast mother and child adrift at sea in a chest. They landed at Seriphus, where Perseus was raised by Dictys. Perseus eventually fulfilled the prophecy by killing Acrisius years after—although accidentally. There are a number of versions of Acrisius' death. In Pseudo-Apollodorus' version, when Perseus learns of the oracle he goes into voluntary exile in Pelasgiotis (Thessaly), where Teutamides, king of Larissa, is holding funeral games for his father. Perseus competes in the discus throw, but his missile veers and strikes Acrisius, killing him instantly.

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Danaë is Rembrandt's painting from the collection of Pierre Crozat which from the 18th century resides in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. It is a life-sized depiction of the character Danaë from Greek mythology, the mother of Perseus. She is presumably depicted as welcoming Zeus, who impregnated her in the form of a shower of gold.

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Danaë is an oil painting by Gustav Klimt, created in 1907. The canvas measures 77 x 83 cm, is cataloged as Symbolism, and is housed in the Galerie Würthle in Vienna. Danaë was a popular subject in the early 1900's for many artists; she was used as the quintessential symbol of divine love, and transcendence.

While imprisoned by her father, King of Argos, in a tower of bronze, Danaë was visited by Zeus, symbolized here as the golden rain flowing between her legs. It is apparent from the subject's face that she is aroused by the golden stream.

In this work, she is curled in a sumptuous royal purple veil which refers to her imperial lineage. Sometime after her celestial visitation she gave birth to a son, Perseus, who is cited later in Greek mythology for slaying the Gorgon Medusa and rescuing Andromeda.