The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Andromeda

Andromeda

c. 1720–30
(Italian, 1663–1739)
Italy, Venice, 18th century
terracotta
Overall: 25.5 x 32 x 19.5 cm (10 1/16 x 12 5/8 x 7 11/16 in.)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee in memory of Professor Donald Weeks 1981.227
Location: 301 Baroque Sculpture Mezzanine

Did You Know?

Tarsia sculptred the clay to depict different textures: coral-like rock, smooth skin, and rigid scales.

Description

To stop attacks by a sea monster sent to punish Queen Cassiopeia for bragging that she was more beautiful than the nymphs of the sea, an oracle decreed that her virgin daughter, Andromeda, be tied to a rock and sacrificed to the creature. The hero Perseus would eventually save her, but artists often chose this moment as an opportunity to display a young, nude woman, justified by a veneer of mythology.
  • -1964
    Private collection
    1964
    (sold, Sotheby's, London, 30 July 1964, no. 113, as "probably Austrian, early 18th c.," to Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee)
    1964-1981
    Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981.
    1981-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1981." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 69, no. 2 (1982): 39-82. no. 22, p. 46 25159758
  • The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1988-January 15, 1989).
    The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Andromeda|url=false|author=Antonio Tarsia|year=c. 1720–30|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1981.227