The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Danaë

Danaë

c. 1623
(Italian, 1563–1639)
Italy, 17th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 202.5 x 270 x 9 cm (79 3/4 x 106 5/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 162 x 228.5 cm (63 3/4 x 89 15/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1971.101
Location: 217 Italian Baroque

Did You Know?

The gauzy scarf draped over Danaë was a studio prop present in many of Orazio's paintings.

Description

Danaë’s father feared a prophecy that his grandson would kill him, so he imprisoned his daughter to protect her from suitors. Yet Jupiter, king of the gods, fell in love with Danaë, and he came to her in the form of gold streaming from the sky. Gentileschi adopted Caravaggio’s method of painting directly from models, pulled to the front of the picture plane, which gives the painting a startling, tangible quality. However, the graceful way he handled paint and human gestures lends the work a poetic quality unique to the artist.
  • Possibly Charles Spencer, Fifth Earl of Sunderland (1706-1758);
    Private collection, England;
    Hazlitt Gallery (London, England], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1971.
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1971." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 59, no. 1 (1972): 3-46. Reproduced: p.12 25152412
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 135 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 346-348; Reproduced: p. 347
    Patrice Marandel, J., ed. Caravaggio and His Legacy. Los Angeles, CA: Prestel, 2012. Mentioned: p. 58; Reproduced: p. 59
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Masterworks on Loan: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Cleveland Museum of Art: October 2016 through February 2017. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016 p. 8-9
    Bissell, R. Ward, Laura Muti and Daniele De Sarno Prignano. Orazio Gentileschi: Cristo Deriso. Faenza: Edit Faenza, 2018. Mentioned: p. 20
    Korkow, Cory, and Marcia Steele. Variations: The Reuse of Models in Paintings by Orazio & Artemisia Gentileschi. Cleveland : Cleveland Museum of Art, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced throughout
    Korkow, Cory. “The Gentileschi Variations.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 2 (Spring 2021): 12-15. Reproduced: P. 12; Mentioned: P. 12, 15.
    Steele, Marcia. “Unlocking an Old Master: Conservation of Orazio Gentileschi's 'Danaë' reveals the artist's genius once again.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 44-45. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 44-45.
  • Variations: The Reuse of Models in Paintings by Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 11-August 28, 2021).
    Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (November 11, 2012-February 10, 2013); Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (March 4-June 16, 2013).
    Caravage et le Caravagisme européen. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (organizer) (June 22-October 14, 2012).
    Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (6/22/2012 - 10/14/2012): "Caravage et le Caravagisme européen", ex. cat. no. 17, p. 124-125.
    Rome, Museo del Palazzo di Venezia (October 15, 2001-January 6, 2002); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 11-May 12, 2002); Saint Louis Museum of Art (June 15-September 15, 2002). "Orazio and Artemesia Gentileschi.", exh. cat. no. 41, pp. 193-195.
    Orazio and Artemesia Gentileschi. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy (October 15, 2001-January 20, 2002); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (February 11-May 12, 2002); Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (June 15-September 15, 2002).
    Van Dyck. Grande pittura e Collezionismo a Genova. Palazzo Ducale, Venice (March 22-July 13, 1997).
    CMA, 1971/72: "Caravggio and His Followers," cat. no. 32, pp. 103-105, colorplate 32 (catalogue by Richard E Spear). (Revised edition, cat. no. 32, p. 103, repr. p. 105 (black & white)).
    Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
  • {{cite web|title=Danaë|url=false|author=Orazio Gentileschi|year=c. 1623|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.101