Lost wax bronze replica from original mold.
Author: Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571)
Period: 1552
Danae was a beautiful girl daughter of King Acrisius, whose fate, however, was not the most rosy. The girl was a key figure in a prophecy about the death of Acrisius which, in an attempt to alter her fate, had her locked up in a tower. The beauty of Danae, however, was such as to make Zeus invaghire who, determined to conquer her, turned into a shower of gold to be able to lie with her. From this union Perseus will be born, the Greek hero famous for defeating Medusa and saving Andromeda. The Cellini statue, depicting Danae, with her infant son at her feet and a thin stream of water that unites them to symbolize the presence of Jupiter. It was born as a narrative structure of the Perseus myth and is placed inside one of the 4 niches at the base of the statue of Perseus himself, made by Cellini. The original masterpiece is now kept in the Bargello National Museum, Florence. The replica that replaced the original under the Loggia de 'Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria (Florence) was cast by the Frilli Gallery.
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