''Perseus and Andromeda'' is a 1622 painting in the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

by the Flemish artist

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

of the ancient Greek myth of

Perseus and Andromeda In Greek mythology, Andromeda (; or ) is the daughter of Cepheus, the king of Aethiopia, and his wife, Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasts that she (or Andromeda) is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends the sea monster Cetus to rava ...

after the former's defeat of the Gorgon. The composition is similar to that of an earlier painting by Rubens, Perseus frees Andromeda (now Gemäldegalerie,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

). Perseus, in the centre of the painting, is surrounded by three

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

, one holding the shield with Gorgon's reflection, one wearing the hero's helmet, while the third holds the winged horse

Tobiano Tobiano is a spotted color pattern commonly seen in pinto horses, produced by a dominant gene. The tobiano gene produces white-haired, pink-skinned patches on a base coat color. The coloration is almost always present from birth and does not ...

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

. Above, Victory, the goddess of glory, is depicted in the act of placing a crown on the hero's head. Two other putti free Andromeda from the rock to which she is tied.

Cetus Cetus () is a constellation, sometimes called 'the whale' in English. The Cetus (mythology), 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- ...

, the sea monster defeated by the hero, is shown below. This painting probably remained in Rubens' house until his death; an engraving from 1684, depicting the facade of Rubens' house in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, shows the painting through the window of the second floor. In the summer of 1769 the painting was acquired by the Russian

from the collections of

Heinrich von Brühl Heinrich, Count von Brühl (, 13 August 170028 October 1763), was a Polish-Saxon statesman at the court of Electorate of Saxony, Saxony and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and a member of the powerful German von Brühl family. The incumbenc ...

. It is now housed in the Rubens Hall on the second floor of the Hermitage Museum.

References

Other versions by Rubens

File:Peter Paul Rubens - Perseus Freeing Andromeda - WGA20306.jpg, ''

Perseus Freeing Andromeda ''Perseus Freeing Andromeda'' or ''Liberation of Andromeda'' is a painting created by Piero di Cosimo, during the Italian Renaissance. The painting was praised by critics and art historians for its aesthetic, cosmological and political implica ...

'', Gemäldegalerie File:Peter Paul Rubens - Andromeda - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Perseus Freeing Andromeda'' in the Gemäldegalerie File:Peter Paul Rubens - Perseus Liberating Andromeda - WGA20324.jpg, ''Perseus Freeing Andromeda'',

Prado Museum The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th century, based on ...

File:LAMBERT SUSTRIS in comparison with PETER PAUL RUBENS.png, ''Earlier painting by Lambert Sustris may have served as inspiration for one of the versions'' {{ACArt Mythological paintings by Peter Paul Rubens Paintings of Andromeda Paintings in the Hermitage Museum 1620s paintings