The painting is a recreation of the myth of Perseus, the demi-god, who slays the sea monster and saves the beautiful Andromeda.

The painting includes portraits of the Medici family and many of Florentine's elite upper ruling class as characters in the story of Perseus Freeing Andromeda.

Perseus eventually marries Andromeda[1] The painting is based on a story in the Metamorphoses, written by the ancient Roman writer, Ovid.

[2] The painting of Andromeda on the side of the mountain about to be consumed by the sea monster, represents ideal beauty.

The scene of when Perseus lends his hands to be held by Andromeda, represents tactile sensuality and naturalistic beauty.

There are two sides to the paragone argument; painters say painting is more powerful because it uses lots of color and is able to show the lucid quality of drapery, something that a sculpture cannot.

It was an argument of what was the better system for arriving at the goal of all art, which is imitation of the natural world, of which God was the greatest creator.

Only the fact that her hair was moved by the breeze of the wind, did he realize she was not just a sculpture but a real person, and he immediately fell in love with her.

[5] In terms of political characteristics, the painting contains many contemporary dignitaries such as Filippo Strozzi the Younger and Lorenzo de' Medici, future Duke of Urbino.

[5] Giorgio Vasari praised the painting for its beautiful use of color and for the depiction of an original sea monster in a way that no one in the past has done.