Perseus freeing Andromeda

Details

Felix Jules Lacaille (French, b. 1856)
Perseus freeing Andromeda
signed and dated 'F.LACAille/1878' (lower right)
oil on canvas
57 ½ x 45 ¼ in. (146 x 115 cm.)

Special notice

All sold and unsold lots marked with a filled square in the catalogue that are not cleared from Christie’s by 5:00 pm on the day of the sale, and all sold and unsold lots not cleared from Christie’s by 5:00 pm on the fifth Friday following the sale, will be removed to the warehouse of ‘Cadogan Tate’. Please note that there will be no charge to purchasers who collect their lots within two weeks of this sale.

Lot Essay

In the present lot Perseus, son of Zeus and Danaë, is depicted between two of his most famous heroic deeds. He has already killed Medusa, and riding Pegasus (who sprang from Medusa's dead body) he holds the Gorgon's head aloft, as told in Ovid, in order to defeat the sea monster and save his love, Andromeda. A sketch by Lacaille for the present lot, executed in the same year as this work, is in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (ENSBA).

More from 19th Century European Art

View All