1623, Orazio Gentileschi, Danaë and the Shower of Gold -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: In a story from Greek mythology, the beautiful Danaë was imprisoned in a tower by her father, Acrisius, king of Argus, because an oracle had predicted that she would bear a son destined to kill him. But Danaë's seclusion was no obstacle for the god Jupiter. Transforming himself into a shower of golden rain, Jupiter lay with her, conceiving the future hero Perseus. Although ancient authors did not specify if the relation was consensual, here the young maiden's gesture, her right arm raised as if welcoming the god, suggests her acceptance of the union. This painting is one in a series of three, which also includes Penitent Magdalene, held in a private collection, and Lot and His Daughters, displayed nearby. For the commissioning patron, the nobleman Giovanni Antonio Sauli, these paintings would have represented different facets of the relationship with the divine.
1623, Orazio Gentileschi, Danaë and the Shower of Gold -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: In a story from Greek mythology, the beautiful Danaë was imprisoned in a tower by her father, Acrisius, king of Argus, because an oracle had predicted that she would bear a son destined to kill him. But Danaë's seclusion was no obstacle for the god Jupiter. Transforming himself into a shower of golden rain, Jupiter lay with her, conceiving the future hero Perseus. Although ancient authors did not specify if the relation was consensual, here the young maiden's gesture, her right arm raised as if welcoming the god, suggests her acceptance of the union. This painting is one in a series of three, which also includes Penitent Magdalene, held in a private collection, and Lot and His Daughters, displayed nearby. For the commissioning patron, the nobleman Giovanni Antonio Sauli, these paintings would have represented different facets of the relationship with the divine.