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Andromeda

Engraving of a nude woman with her wrists chained to a rock. At her feet lie human bones, including a skull, and in the background a man in amour rides a flying horse, holding a sword.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Engraving of a nude woman with her wrists chained to a rock. At her feet lie human bones, including a skull, and in the background a man in amour rides a flying horse, holding a sword.

Date:

1601

Artist:

Jan Saenredam (Dutch, 1565-1607)
after Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)

About this artwork

This engraving by Jan Saenredam after a drawing by Hendrick Goltzius envisions the story of Andromeda as a traditional Renaissance nude. The beautifully bare princess Andromeda has been chained to a bone-strewn rock as food for a ravening sea beast, when Perseus swoops in on Pegasus to do battle with the creature and save the damsel in distress. Andromeda’s nudity is accentuated by her flowing locks, blown dramatically by the wind and waves; she is a comely tidbit for monster or man. Saenredam’s early training was in cartography, and his rendition of Goltzius’s sea beast resembles the hybrid stock characters that populate dangerous uncharted waters of 16th-century maps.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jan Saenredam

Title

Andromeda

Place

Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Published 1596–1606

Medium

Engraving on cream laid paper

Dimensions

25.5 × 17.5 cm (10 1/16 × 6 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Elizabeth Hammond Stickney Collection

Reference Number

1887.311

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/40/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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