''Perseus and Andromeda'' is an oil painting by Lord

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

. Completed in 1891, the year it was displayed at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...

, it depicts the

Greek mythological A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of d ...

story of Andromeda. In contrast to the basis of a classical tale, Leighton used a Gothic style for the artwork. The painting is in the collection of

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Legend

In Greek mythology, the kingdom of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

was ruled by the beautiful but vain queen, Cassiopeia, who claimed that her beauty was superior to that of the sea nymphs. When the nymphs, who were the daughters of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

, the god of the sea, became aware of her claims, they protested to their father. Poseidon retaliated by calling up a sea monster called

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology which both Perseus and Heracles needed to slay. Cetus is in the region of the sky that contains other water-related conste ...

to patrol and wreak havoc along the coastline of Ethiopia, placing Cassiope's kingdom at risk. Queen Cassiopeia, together with her husband Cepheus, decided to sacrifice their daughter, Princess Andromeda, to the monster. Andromeda was chained to a rock at the edge of the sea as an offering to the monster.

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

, who had just fought and defeated

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

, was travelling back home on his winged horse,

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

. He rescued Andromeda by killing the monster. The couple fell in love, but the Princess was already betrothed to

Phineus In Greek mythology, Phineus (; Ancient Greek: Φινεύς, ) or Phineas, was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer, who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in PaphlagoniaScholia on Apollonius of Rhode ...

. Perseus and Phineus argued at the wedding, but Perseus held up the head of the defeated

and

was turned to stone.

Painting

The mythological theme of Andromeda is depicted in a dramatic manner. The scene is a representation of the myth set on a rocky shore. Perseus is depicted flying above the head of Andromeda, on his winged horse Pegasus. He is shooting an arrow from the air, that hits the sea monster, who turns his head upwards, towards the hero. Andromeda's almost naked, twisted body is shaded by the wings of the dark creature, creating a visual sign of imminent danger. Andromeda's sinuous body is contrasted against the dark masses of the monster's irregular and jagged body. The white body of Andromeda is depicted in pure and untouched innocence, indicating an unfair sacrifice for a divine punishment that was not directed towards her, but her mother. Pegasus and Perseus are surrounded by a

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

of light that connects them visually to the white body of the princess, chained to the rock. Leighton cast a small bronze painted plaster sculpture of Andromeda as a study before commencing work on the painting. The statuette was naked but Leighton placed wet materials over it to achieve the effect he wanted to reproduce in his work. A later artwork, ''Perseus on Pegasus Hastening to the Rescue of Andromeda'', completed four years later, portrayed the same story.

References

External links

Andromeda and Perseus; An Ancient Greek Myth for Kids
{{Frederic Leighton Mythological paintings by Frederic Leighton 1891 paintings Paintings of Andromeda Paintings in the collection of the Walker Art Gallery Water in art