3-102-274 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Danaë', 1636, (1967). A work which has been called variously 'Rachel Awaiting Jacob', 'Venus Awaiting Mars', 'Hagar Awaiting Abraham', 'Leah Awaiting Jacob'; but we can assume that it depicts Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos, who was put into strict and virginal confinement by her father because the oracle had told him he would die at the hand of his grandson. Undeterred by man-made barriers, Zeus - normally depicted as a shower of gold - visits Danaë, and she bears their son, Perseus. Here Zeus' arrival is merely suggested by the light on the left and by the old servant holding open the draperies. Floating above Danaë, and symbolizing her enforced isolation, is a weeping cupid with bound hands. Painting in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. From "Rembrandt" by Ludwig Münz and Bob Haak, [Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1967]