Danaë (Artemisia Gentileschi)
Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Danaë is a 1612 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It hangs in the Saint Louis Art Museum, United States.[1][2][3]
It is assumed that this is a self-portrait of the artist.[4]
Description
Subject matter
The story of Danaë is recorded in Ovid's Metamorphoses and recounts the plight of the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. A prophecy led him to believe that his grandchild would lead to his death, and therefore imprisoned his daughter to prevent a potential pregnancy. Zeus overcame this challenge by transforming himself into a shower of gold, entering the room and seducing Danaë. She subsequently bore a son Perseus, who went on to kill his grandfather in his adulthood.
Composition
The nude figure of Danaë reclines on her richly textiled bed in a darkened space, while her servant wearing a white headscarf in the background collects gold coins in her blue skirts. The pose and design are based on Artemisia's earlier version of Cleopatra.[5] A cleaning completed in 1986 removed old discolored varnish and restored the vibrant colors of the servant's dress.[6]
Interpretation
Art historians have debated this portrayal of Danaë, with some noting an open, inviting posture, while others observe the clenched fist and closed legs.[5] Some scholars believe this painting refers directly to the rape the artist endured a few years prior,[3] while others argue that she rather had a sympathy for women victimized by unwelcome sexual pressures.[7]
History
Attribution
Unlike most of Artemisia's surviving works, this painting was executed on copper.[5] Given that Orazio was known to work frequently on copper, this has led scholars to debate the authorship between daughter and father.[6] The attribution to Artemisia lies in both the naturalistic rendering of the female form as well as the sensitive portrayal of a woman's distress towards sexual violence.[5]
Provenance
The painting was created while Artemisia was living in Rome, around 1612.[2] The first documented appearance of the painting was at the Sotheby's sale in Monaco on February 22, 1986, where it was sold as a work of the artist's father Orazio. The painting was subsequently purchased by the Saint Louis Art Museum on August 1, 1986.[8]
See also
Bibliography
Banta, Anadaleeb Badiee, Alexa Greist, and Theresa Kutasz Christensen, eds. Making her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800. Toronto, Ontario: Goose Lane Editions, 2023. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized and presented by the Baltimore Museum of Art, October 1, 2023 – January 7, 2024 and the Art Gallery of Ontario, March 30, 2024 – July 1, 2024.[9]
