Jupiter en Danaë 1683 - 1733

Curator: Look closely at this engraving. What strikes you first? It’s entitled “Jupiter en Danaë,” created by Bernard Picart sometime between 1683 and 1733. Editor: Intrigue! I see this scene with a beautiful nude, and then this wrinkled crone tucked into the shadows. The light's coming from somewhere unexpected; feels like both revelation and something a bit sinister. Curator: Spot on. It’s all wrapped up in the story of Danaë from classical mythology, but rendered through a distinctly Baroque lens. Jupiter, king of the gods, desired her and, barred from her by a tower, visited her as a shower of gold. Hence, all the glittering coins! Editor: A shower of gold...right. Talk about gilded age privilege. Though, look at how Picart depicts it—there's such detail in her expression, that glimmer of anticipation mingled with what I think might be uncertainty. It adds an intriguing layer of emotional complexity. The crone on the right reminds me of ancient times. Curator: Exactly! And Picart isn't simply illustrating a myth; he is responding to its representation throughout art history, making it his own by using intaglio! Engraving. Printing techniques in his day were always about democratizing access to images. And mythology itself was deployed as a way of commenting on power dynamics, I always read works of art that relate to mythology this way. Editor: Yes, yes, power! You can say that again. The church, and nobility had always dominated the interpretation. Now there were a lot of people printing and pushing a message of change and challenging these hierarchies. But it works in a way that stays classical. So subtle and beautiful in a period of intense disruption and redefinition. I’m thinking about other depictions I have seen. In particular the many other depictions of Danaë, where the scene is either tragic or eroticized and here is neither of those! It is like we are peeking in! Curator: Precisely. It allows us a kind of intellectual and imaginative access that might otherwise be restricted. So many layers upon layers here that go beyond what meets the eye initially. Editor: Well said. It certainly gave me something to mull over. Maybe next time, a painting with happy clowns to lift the mood?