Antonio da Correggio - Danaë

• Title: Danaë
• Artist: Antonio da Correggio (1489-1534)
• Date: 1531
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 161 x 193 cm

The painting "Danaë" portrays the Greek mythological figure Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos. After an oracle forecast that Acrisius would be killed by her son, he had her jailed in a bronze tower. However, as told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, Jupiter reached her in the form of a gold rain and made her mother to Perseus.

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 cherubs are testing gold and lead arrows against a touchstone.