Perseus and Andromeda

Image credit: Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

Andromeda, chained at the ankle, languidly awaits her fate as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Her sensuous body dominates the composition and her liberator, Perseus, is only lightly delineated in the sky. He holds the Gorgon's head on his shield which will shortly turn the monster into stone. Gustave Moreau's subjects were exclusively taken from classical mythology or the bible and the large paintings he exhibited in the mid-1860s at the Paris Salon gained him considerable success. He painted with a sumptuous richness; his larger works have elaborately encrusted surfaces built-up from many layers of pigment. The poetry and imaginative power of his work particularly appealed to men of letters and Joris-Karl Huysmans wrote in his novel 'À rebours' of 'this great artist, this mystical pagan, this seer who could conjure up in the everyday world of Paris such visions and magical apotheosis of other ages'.

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

Bristol

Title

Perseus and Andromeda

Date

c.1870

Medium

oil on panel

Measurements

H 20 x W 25.4 cm

Accession number

K2953

Acquisition method

purchased, 1965

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

Queens Road, Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RL England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue