Metamorphosis
The legend of Danae
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Danae
by TITIAN(c1560)
Danae
by TITIAN (c1560)
Portrait of Mlle Lange as Danae
by A-L. GIRODET (1799)
Danae
by REMBRANDT (17th c)
Danae and the Golden Rain
by Lovis CORINTH (20th c)
The sleeping Danae being prepared to receive Jupiter
by Hendrick GOLTZIUS (1603)
Danae and the shower of gold
by A.U. WERTMULLER ( - )
Danae
by Titian ( 1545 )

Danae was a legendary princess of Argos. Her father, Acrisius, who had been warned by an oracle that her son would one day kill him, had decided to keep her locked her in a bronze tower away from any male company.

Zeus, who loved Danae, turned himself into a shower of gold and came to the despondent princess through the roof. The shower of gold poured down into her lap; as a result she had a son. When Acrisius discovered Perseus, he locked both mother and son in a chest, and set it adrift on the sea. Eventually Danae and Perseus were rescued.

Later, after many adventures (see Perseus and Andromeda), Perseus returned to Acrisius' kingdom, where he fulfilled the prophecy of the oracle by accidentally killing the king while throwing the discus.

Looking at the Renaissance paintings and at what was produced later, it becomes obvious that more often than not, the exploitation of these myths was done as a way to both express and excuse erotic content (Tintoret, Blanchard or Goltzius) or to expose the charms of wealthy contemporaries (see Portrait of Mlle Lange as Danae by A-L. Girodet). Why otherwise concentrate on that particular episode of the legend? Gossaert's version stands out as perhaps the most faithful illustration of the legend with Danae depicted alone in her bronze room receiving in her lap the shower of gold.
Strangely, the shower of gold is sometimes painted as a shower of gold coins which some old servant hastens to collect (Tintoret, Titian or Van Dyck). What a let down for our amorous god! With the advent of Baroque and Rococco, angels have been added to the picture. Which somewhat dampens the erotic atmosphere of the scene (Titian, Blanchard, Van Dyck and Goltzius).
Closer to us, some of the masters of modern art exploited the theme in their own idiosyncratic ways. In his sensual portrait of Danae, Klimt depicts the imprisoned princess in an amorous embrace with Zeus. True to the legend, the latter is represented as an amorphous stream of gold.

Many other painters tackled the subject. They include:
Danae : Corregio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Mabuse, John Waterhouse, Joachim A. Wtewael, Edward Burne-Jones, Giovanni B. Tiepolo

 
Danae receiving the shower of gold
by TITIAN (c1560)
Danae
by Jacopo TINTORET (17th c)
Danae
by Jan Gossaert (1527)
Danae
by Jacques BLANCHARD (1629)
Danae
by Anton Van DYCK (17th c)
Danae
by Gustav KLIMT (1907-08)
 

The origin of the cards and the publishers :

Danae by TITIAN (c 1560) Das Kunsthistorische Museum, Wien
        - 1337/1996, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
Danae by TITIAN (not known) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
        - 4227
Danae receiving the shower of gold by TITIAN (not known) Museo del Prado, Madrid
        - NP109, Museo del Prado
Danae by TITIAN (1545) Museo e Galleria Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples
        - 1337/1996, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
Danae and the Golden Rain by Lovis CORINTH (not known) Erotic Art Museum, Hamburg
        - VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 1992, Canberra
Danae by Jacques BLANCHARD (1629) Musee des Beaux Arts, Lyon
        - Musees des Beaux Arts, Rennes
Danae by Jacopo TINTORETTO (not known) Musee des Beaux Arts, Lyon
       - IC-00-6806, Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Paris
Danae by Jan GOSSAERT (1527) Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munchen
        - VD 6029, Vontobel, Feldmeilen, Switzerland
Portrait of Mlle Lange as Danae by A-L GIRODET (1799) The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
        - The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis
Danae by Gustav KLIMT (1907-08) Musee national de la Renaissance, Chateau d'Ecouen
        - Edition 1992, Migneco&Smith, Firenze
The sleeping Danae being prepared to receive Jupiter being by Hendrick Goltzius (1603) Los Angeles County Museum of Art
        - M84.191, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Danae by REMBRANDT (not known) Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
        - A5551, Art Unlimited, Amsterdam
Danae by Van DYCK (17th c) Dresden, Germany
        - 29690, Stengel & Co., Dresden
Danae and the shower of gold by A.U. WERTMULLER (not known) National Museum, Stockholm
        - National Museum, Stockholm

Bibliography :
Dictionary of Classical Mythology by Pierre Grimal
   Copyright : 1991, Penguin Books, London, England

Encyclopedia Mythica - website address: http://www.pantheon.org/
Mythography Exploring Greek, Roman, and Celtic Mythology and Art - website address: http://www.loggia.com/myth/myth.html

 

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