Perseus and Andromeda (Titian)
The paintings took subjects from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses, in this case Book IV, lines 663–752,[1] and all featured female nudes.
When the nymphs became aware of her claims, they protested to their father, who retaliated by calling up a Cetus or sea monster to ravage the coastline of Ethiopia placing Cassiope's kingdom at risk.
On the advice of Jupiter Ammon, the Queen, together with her husband Cepheus, decided to sacrifice her daughter Andromeda to the monster.
[3] Titian follows Ovid fairly closely, although it is likely that his Latin was poor, and he mainly relied on somewhat simplified versions in Italian, of which there was a choice.
[4] Various visual sources have been suggested, both from the rather crude woodcut illustrations of various editions of Ovid, and specific classical reliefs, as well as a well-known drawing by Michelangelo of the Risen Christ (British Museum).
The book illustrations "all show Perseus wearing a winged helmet like Mercury, for which there is no textual justification, and carrying a small baroque parade shield, features which Titian may later have remembered.
[6] In a letter from Titian to Philip accompanying the Venus and Adonis, he noted that the pair offered contrasting poses, and promised "another different view" in both Perseus and Andromeda and a Jason and Medea he intended to produce.
[8] The composition of Perseus and Andromeda developed through several stages, which can be traced through x-rays and infra-red reflectography, and a surviving drawing.
[11] In a dissident view, Rearick sees the Wallace collection canvas as a second version, the original being the one delivered to Philip in 1556, and now lost, with Andromeda on the right.
It appears to have left the Spanish royal collection before Philip's death in 1598 (the only poesie to do so), but was replaced by a careful copy, now in Gerona, Spain.
[15] The painting was certainly in the collection of Anthony van Dyck, who may have acquired it from the Leoni family, who were based in Milan, during his years in Italy from 1621 to 1627.
It was listed among his paintings on his death in London in 1641, and bought in 1646 by one of van Dyck's best customers, Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, together with Titian's Portrait of the Vendramin Family (now National Gallery).
Between 1842 and about 1854 it was stored in the Pantechnicon repository in London, before moving to Hertford House, now home of the Wallace Collection, where it has remained.
When Philip II gave the painting away, a copy was made for the Spanish royal collection, which in 1882 was sent to the museum in Gerona, Spain.
[15] An engraving by the Venetian Ferrando Bertelli probably dates to the 1550s and is a close rendering, though extending the composition on all sides except the left, possibly reflecting the original size of the painting, which has been cut down to an unknown extent.
