Perseus freeing Andromeda

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).