Zeus and Danae
Danae was the daughter and only child of King Acrisius of Argos by his wife Queen Eurydice or Aganippe.
Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter's son. At the time, Danae was childless and, meaning to keep her so, King Acrisius shut her up in a bronze chamber to be constructed under the court of his palace (other versions say she was imprisoned in a tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or windows, just a sky-light as the source of light and air). She was buried in this tomb, never to see the light again. However, Zeus, the king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her womb. Soon after, their child Perseus was born.
Zeus and Danae Stamp Collection
Ussr 1982 Danae of Tiziano
St. petersburg version
Paraguay 1970 Danae of Tiziano
St. petersburg version
Fujera 1972 Danae of Tiziano
St. petersburg version
Ajman 1971 Danae of Tiziano
Prado museum version
St.tome e Principe 1990 Danae of Tiziano
Prado museum version
Titian and his workshop produced at least six versions of the painting, which vary to degrees. The major surviving versions are in Naples, London, Madrid, Vienna, Chicago, and St. Petersburg. The voluptuous figure of Danaë, with legs half spread, hardly changes, and was probably traced from a studio drawing or version. Her bed and its hangings are another constant. Other elements vary considerably; the first version, now in Naples, was painted between 1544–46, and is the only one with a figure of Cupid at the right, rather than an old woman catching the shower of gold. She is a different figure at each appearance, though the pose in the Hermitage follows the Prado version. The small dog resting at Danaë's side in the Prado and Chicago versions is generally absent.
Bhutan 1989 Danae of Tiziano
Prado museum version
Paraguay 1986 Danae of Tiziano
Naples museum version
USSR 1976 Danae of Rembrandt
Bhutan 1989 Danae of Tiziano
Naples museum version
Bulgaria 1986 Danae of Tiziano
Naples museum version
Netherland 1999 Danae of Rembrandt
Ajman 1972 Danae of Rembrandt
Danaë is a painting by the Dutch artist Rembrandt, first painted in 1636, but later extensively reworked by Rembrandt, probably in the 1640s, and perhaps before 1643. Once part of Pierre Crozat's collection, it has been in the Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia since the 18th century. this is one of Rembrandt's most magnificent paintings, it is not out of the question that he cherished it, but it also may have been difficult to sell because of its eight-by-ten-foot size. Although the artist's wife Saskia was the original model for Danaë, Rembrandt later changed the figure's face to that of his mistress Geertje Dircx
Malagasy 1986 Danae of Rembrandt
Paraguay 1975 Danae of Correggio
Manama 1971 Danae of Correggio
Italy 2002 Danae of Correggio
Correggio portrays Danaë 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.
Nicaragua 1984 Danae of Correggio
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Manama 1972 Danae of Jan Gossart
In 1527, Gossart painted his final work on a mythological subject, Danaë, a large-scale work, using sober and elegant architectural motifs as the setting for its subject.
In the centre of the painting an enraptured Danaë sits on two plump pillows on the floor. With her bare legs spread apart, and her deep blue mantle slipping seductively from her shoulders to reveal her right breast, she receives Zeus in the form of the fertile golden rain that gently falls into her lap. In the background, viewed through the columns, are buildings in a mixture of architectural styles: an Italian Renaissance palace, a medieval turret, a north ITalian church tower and lantern, and a Flamboyant Late Gothic edifice.