PXL_20240329_223457527

The Sleeping Danae and the Shower of Gold
1603
Hendrik Goltzius
Dutch, Miihlbracht 1558—-Haarlem 1617

Oil on canvas

According to ancient myth, Danae’s father locked her away in a tower to thwart the prophecy that her future son would kill him. Driven by lust for the young woman, the god Jupiter turned himself into a shower of gold to enter the tower. He impregnated Danae, and their son, Perseus, later fulfilled the prediction. Goltzius portrayed Danae sound asleep, oblivious to the god’s arrival. Meanwhile, her entourage seems delighted by the gold. The presence of an older woman, perhaps a procuress, who wakes Danae, and Mercury, the god of commerce (center), as well as the suggestively shaped moneybag (left), contributes a critical commentary: given the insatiable nature of greed, anything can be bought or sold, including desire.