Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari)
Italian, 1568–1640
Perseus Rescuing Andromeda
1594/95
The Greek hero Perseus, traveling home after slaying Medusa, spotted the princess Andromeda chained to a rock. He rescued her from being sacrificed to a sea monster and won her hand in marriage. This painting depicts a version of the ancient myth popularized in sixteenth-century Italy, in which Perseus arrives astride Pegasus, the winged horse born from Medusa’s blood. Small mythological scenes like this made Arpino one of Rome’s most fashionable painters among sophisticated connoisseurs.
| Medium | oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 20 11/16 x 14 15/16 in. (52.5 x 38 cm) |
| Object Number | 2010.7 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by the Clark, 2010 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari), Perseus Rescuing Andromeda, 1594/95, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 2010.7
Select Bibliography
Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred, 1530-1800. Edited by Judith Walker Mann. St. Louis: Saint Louis Art Museum, 2020.
Provenance
[Carlo Orsi, Milan]; Katz Foundation Collection, London (by sale to Clark Art Institute, 2010); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2010.
