Danaë in painting: how a myth became a realistic portrait
From Mabuse to Rembrandt, the different versions of Danaë show how the myth turned into realism. The art market, with the Getty leading the way, has driven prices sky-high.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Rembrandt humanizes Danaë: from divine gold to a real woman
The Danaës of the sixteenth century showed impassive goddesses receiving Jupiter's shower of gold. But Rembrandt's 1636 version changed the rules: a real woman, uneasy, waiting for something she knows is coming. An analysis of the myth's interpretations reveals how the art market and each painter's vision transformed the Argive princess into a bedroom portrait.
From Mabuse to Tintoretto: the divinity of gold
The first Danaë in the survey is Jan Mabuse's (1527), in Munich's Alte Pinakothek: dressed in blue with one breast exposed, legs displayed on a red cushion. A pose caught between Nordic modesty and the Italian demand for flesh. Correggio (1531) paints her nude, horizontal, with a golden cloud and cupids. Titian (1544) adds a cupid; Tintoretto (1570) turns the shower into gold coins and introduces a young maidservant. Each version adapts the myth to the commission and the geography.
Titian and social critique: the old woman gathering the gold
In the Prado's Danaë, Titian includes an old woman gathering the coins in her apron, while the protagonist lies oblivious. A metaphor for nascent capitalism: one person creates the value, another captures it. The sleeping little dog adds a domestic touch. The same composition is repeated in Tintoretto's version in Lyon.
Artemisia Gentileschi: a gaze that does not submit
Artemisia Gentileschi painted her Danaë in 1612, before her famous Judith. Although still in her apprentice phase, she introduces a violent light and a gaze that is not one of submission: the princess knows what she is accepting. Her father Orazio made another version in 1623, which today hangs in the Getty after fetching $30.5 million at Sotheby's (2016).
Rembrandt: the realist revolution
The Hermitage Danaë (1636) is the most human of them all. Rembrandt used his vvife Saskia's body and his lover's face. Without the golden cupid, the scene is a naked woman uncomfortable in the sunlight, a genre painting disguised as a myth. In 1985, a Lithuanian named Bronius Maigis attacked it with sulfuric acid and a knife; restoration took 12 years. Today it is displayed behind armored glass.
The art market: the Getty as paradigm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, the richest in the U.S., has sent old master prices soaring. It paid $70 million for a Titian in a private deal with Axa (2004), set records with the Pontormo at $35.2 million (1989), and added a Parmigianino for £24.5 million (2017). These purchases, criticized as a way of moving capital and evading taxes, come on top of accusations of looting Greek antiquities.
Art or investment?
The evolution of Danaë — from divine allegory to intimate portrait — reflects artistic and social changes. But the prices these works fetch raise an uncomfortable question: what weighs more, the master's brushstroke or the collector's check? The answer keeps floating, like Correggio's golden cloud.
The Danaës of the sixteenth century showed impassive goddesses receiving Jupiter's shower of gold. But Rembrandt's 1636 version changed the rules: a real woman, uneasy, waiting for something she knows is coming. An analysis of the myth's interpretations reveals how the art market and each painter's vision transformed the Argive princess into a bedroom portrait.
From Mabuse to Tintoretto: the divinity of gold
The first Danaë in the survey is Jan Mabuse's (1527), in Munich's Alte Pinakothek: dressed in blue with one breast exposed, legs displayed on a red cushion. A pose caught between Nordic modesty and the Italian demand for flesh. Correggio (1531) paints her nude, horizontal, with a golden cloud and cupids. Titian (1544) adds a cupid; Tintoretto (1570) turns the shower into gold coins and introduces a young maidservant. Each version adapts the myth to the commission and the geography.
Titian and social critique: the old woman gathering the gold
In the Prado's Danaë, Titian includes an old woman gathering the coins in her apron, while the protagonist lies oblivious. A metaphor for nascent capitalism: one person creates the value, another captures it. The sleeping little dog adds a domestic touch. The same composition is repeated in Tintoretto's version in Lyon.
Artemisia Gentileschi: a gaze that does not submit
Artemisia Gentileschi painted her Danaë in 1612, before her famous Judith. Although still in her apprentice phase, she introduces a violent light and a gaze that is not one of submission: the princess knows what she is accepting. Her father Orazio made another version in 1623, which today hangs in the Getty after fetching $30.5 million at Sotheby's (2016).
Rembrandt: the realist revolution
The Hermitage Danaë (1636) is the most human of them all. Rembrandt used his vvife Saskia's body and his lover's face. Without the golden cupid, the scene is a naked woman uncomfortable in the sunlight, a genre painting disguised as a myth. In 1985, a Lithuanian named Bronius Maigis attacked it with sulfuric acid and a knife; restoration took 12 years. Today it is displayed behind armored glass.
The art market: the Getty as paradigm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, the richest in the U.S., has sent old master prices soaring. It paid $70 million for a Titian in a private deal with Axa (2004), set records with the Pontormo at $35.2 million (1989), and added a Parmigianino for £24.5 million (2017). These purchases, criticized as a way of moving capital and evading taxes, come on top of accusations of looting Greek antiquities.
Art or investment?
The evolution of Danaë — from divine allegory to intimate portrait — reflects artistic and social changes. But the prices these works fetch raise an uncomfortable question: what weighs more, the master's brushstroke or the collector's check? The answer keeps floating, like Correggio's golden cloud.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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