Giovanni Antonio Guardi, VIENNA 1699 - 1760 VENICE
DANAË
Oil on canvas
38 3/8 by 23 3/8 in.; 97.5 by 59.4 cm.
Private collection
Disappointed
by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this
would change. The oracle announced to him that he would never have a son, but
his daughter would, and that he would be killed by his daughter's son. At the
time, Danae was childless and, meaning to keep her so, she was imprisoned in a
tall brass tower with a single richly adorned chamber, but with no doors or
windows, just a sky-light as the source of light and air). However, Zeus, the
king of the gods, desired her, and came to her in the form of golden rain which
streamed in through the roof of the subterranean chamber and down into her
womb. Soon after, their child Perseus was born.
Unwilling
to provoke the wrath of the gods or the Furies by killing his offspring and
grandchild, King Acrisius cast Danaë and Perseus into the sea in a wooden
chest. The sea was calmed by Poseidon and, at the request of Zeus, the pair
survived. They were washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were
taken in by Dictys – the brother of King Polydectes – who raised Perseus to
manhood. The King was charmed by Danaë, but she had no interest in him.
Consequently, he agreed not to marry her only if her son would bring him the
head of the Gorgon Medusa. Using Athena's shield, Hermes's winged sandals and
Hades' helmet of invisibility, Perseus was able to evade Medusa's gaze and
decapitate her.
Later, after Perseus brought back Medusa's head and rescued
Andromeda, the oracle's prophecy came true. He started for Argos, but learning
of the prophecy, instead went to Larissa, where athletic games were being held.
By chance, an aging Acrisius was there and Perseus accidentally struck him on
the head with his javelin (or discus), fulfilling the prophecy. More on Danaë
Giovanni Antonio Guardi (1699 – 23 January
1760), also known as Gianantonio Guardi, was an
Italian painter and nobleman. Guardi was one of the founders of the Venetian
Academy in 1756. Born in
Vienna into a family of nobility from Trentino. His father Domenico (born in
1678) a Baroque painter, and his brothers Niccolò and Gian Antonio (also
painters), later inherited the family workshop after their father's death in
1716. They probably all contributed as a team to some of the larger commissions
later attributed to his brother Francesco Guardi. His sister Maria Cecilia
married the pre-eminent Veneto-European painter of his epoch, Giovanni Battista
Tiepolo.
He may have received his artistic training in Vienna, where
he is first recorded in 1719, but had established a workshop in Venice by
1730. He produced copies
after the work of other artists, as well as a series of originals with
Turkish-inspired interiors as easel pictures for private decorations. Antonio
Guardi trained his younger brothers Nicolò and Francesco in his workshop, the
latter working closely with him as a figure painter before establishing himself
as a vedutista in the late 1750s.
He died in Venice in 1760. More on Giovanni Antonio Guardi
We do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.
If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.
No comments:
Post a Comment