170.213.22.117: /* Damsel in distress */

2024-06-26T18:54:21Z

Damsel in distress

New page

{{Short description|1630 painting by Rembrandt}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file= Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 011.jpg
| title=Andromeda Chained to the Rocks
| artist=[[Rembrandt]]
| year={{circa|1630}}
| medium=[[Oil painting|Oil on panel]]
| height_metric=34
| width_metric=24.5
| city=[[The Hague]]
| museum=[[Mauritshuis]]}}
'''''Andromeda Chained to the Rocks''''' (1630) is a {{cvt|34|x|24.5|cm}} oil-on-panel painting by the [[Dutch Golden Age painter]] [[Rembrandt]]. It is now in the [[Mauritshuis]], [[The Hague]], [[Netherlands]]. Andromeda represents Rembrandt's first full length mythological female nude [[history painting]] and is taken from a story in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.

==Mythology==
In Metamorphoses, [[Andromeda (mythology)]] is the daughter of an Ethiopian king and queen, [[Cepheus, King of Aethiopia|Cepheus]] and [[Cassiopeia (Queen of Aethiopia)|Cassiopeia]]. Cassiopeia was very boastful about her beauty, and asserted that she was more beautiful than [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], the queen of the gods and the Nereids. Insulted by Cassiopeia's assertions, [[Neptune]] sent a sea monster to the Ethiopian coast. Neptune then could only be appeased upon the sacrifice of Andromeda, the king's beautiful virgin daughter, to the sea monster. Andromeda was chained naked to rocks by the coast, awaiting the sea monster. [[Perseus]], passing by, noticed the beautiful girl and made a deal with her parents that he would save her, should he be allowed to have her hand in marriage. The king and queen agreed and Andromeda was spared.<ref name="Ovid, book iv, myth ix">Ovid, book iv, myth ix.</ref>

==Damsel in distress==
This painting depicts a classic example of the [[damsel in distress]]. In this theme a beautiful young woman is placed in a perilous situation, usually involving a monster or being trapped in captivity. The damsel can then only be rescued by a hero, whom she usually ends up marrying. In this painting, Andromeda has a distressed look on her face as she is completely shackled and unable to move. Although Perseus does not make an appearance in this painting, in similar works we can see Perseus being portrayed in a heroic and graceful light, shown through the use of warm colors and heroic poses.

==Depiction of beauty==
Many artists such as [[Titian]] have depicted this story by showing [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]], her rescuer Perseus, and the sea monster all in the same composition. Her beauty as described in her source material can be seen in some of these other works, along with Perseus' role as her rescuer. In this work, Rembrandt shies away from classical conventions by showing her not as a glamorous beauty but as a frightened naturalistic looking girl. No other figure is included, but her alarmed look out of the picture space to the right creates narrative tension. The painting is an example of Rembrandt's rejection of idealized beauty. Since he did not believe true beauty existed naturally, he painted women as he saw them; naturally imperfect and flawed.<ref name="Clark, p. 11">Clark, p. 11.</ref>

Rembrandt's subsequent nude mythological paintings from this period ''[[Diana Bathing with her Nymphs with Actaeon and Callisto|Diana Bathing]]'' and ''[[Danaë (Rembrandt painting)|Danaë]]'' show his evolving portrayal of the nude.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="188px" caption="Other Depictions of Andromeda">
File:Perseo y Andrómeda, por Tiziano.jpg|''[[Perseus and Andromeda (Titian)|Perseus and Andromeda]]'', [[Titian]], [[Wallace Collection]]
Image:Vasari, perseo e andromeda, studiolo.jpg|[[Giorgio Vasari]], ''Perseus and Andromeda'', 1570
File:D'arpino-Andromède.jpg|''Perseus and Andromeda'' by [[Giuseppe Cesari]] (1568–1640)
File:Persus and Andromeda by Joachim Wtewael.jpg|[[Joachim Wtewael]], Louvre
File:Peter Paul Rubens - Andromeda - Google Art Project.jpg|''Perseus Freeing Andromeda'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]]
File:Delacroix Andromeda.jpg|''Perseus and Andromeda'' by [[Eugène Delacroix]]
Image:1840 Chasseriau Theodore - Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids.jpg|''Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids'' (1840) by [[Théodore Chassériau]]

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of paintings by Rembrandt]]

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*[[Ovid]], Translated by A.D. Melville, ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', Oxford University Press, 1998.
*Clark, Kenneth, ''Rembrandt and the Italian Renaissance.'', New York University Press, 1966
{{Rembrandt}}
{{ACArt}}

[[Category:Mythological paintings by Rembrandt]]
[[Category:1631 paintings]]
[[Category:Paintings in the Mauritshuis]]
[[Category:Paintings of Andromeda]]
[[Category:Water in art]]
[[Category:Paintings based on Metamorphoses]]
[[Category:Damsels in distress]]

Andromeda Chained to the Rocks - Revision history

170.213.22.117: /* Damsel in distress */