Andromeda
Gustave Doré, 1869
Andromeda, painted by Gustave Doré in 1869, depicts one of the best-known episodes of Greek myth: the young woman, daughter of the king and queen of Ethiopia, stands naked and chained to a rock by the sea, awaiting the sea monster Ceto. The canvas shows her upright, her red hair falling over her shoulders, her body lit with a bright tone that stands out against the dark water and the foam of the waves. She occupies the centre of the composition, and the chain binding her serves as a reminder that she is a captive, while the sea opens into an unsettling expanse behind her. Unlike Doré's 1862 engraving, which showed Perseus arriving ready to confront the monster, this painting concentrates entirely on the victim and on the tension of waiting, with no hero present. That choice makes the work a study of the chained female figure, a recurring theme in nineteenth-century mythological nude painting.
- Painter
- Gustave Doré
- Date
- 1869
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 255 × 172 cm
- Museum
- Chimei Museum
- Genre
- mythological painting, nude
- Depicts
- nudity, waist-length hair, red hair, toe, Andromeda, sea, wind wave, prisoner
More works by Gustave Doré
