Perseus Saving Andromeda

Giovanni David

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

David depicts the moment when having slain the sea monster to whom she was to be sacrificed Perseus frees Andromeda. On the ground to the right of Perseus lies the shield whose reflective surface had enabled him to slay Medusa, since looking on the Gorgon directly would have turned him to stone. Although classical sources describe Perseus as flying with the aid of winged sandals, artists often show him riding Pegasus, born from Medusa's blood. Considered an embodiment of fame, the winged horse was an appropriate mount for a hero.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art