1. Perseus and Andromeda Date:60 - 70 AD[1 Dimensions:1.06m high 93 cm wide Technique:Fresco Style:Fourth Style wall in the House of the Discouri, Pompeii

2. Perseus and Andromeda Perseus (with winged feet and a sickle sword) had just killed Medusa - the gorgon-head hangs from the scabbard. On his way back to Greece, he saw a young woman chained to a rock: Andromeda, the daughter of King Kephus of Ethiopia. Andromeda’s mother, Kassiopeia, boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the sea-goddesses. This annoyed Poseidon, so he sent a monster to terrorize Kephus’ city. To rid the city of this terrible monster, Kephus had to sacrifice his daughter. Andromeda was chained to a cliff to await her fate. Perseus killed the monster, either with a sword of by using Medusa’s head and took Andromeda for his bride.

3. Perseus and Andromeda Perseus Andromeda Sea monster Head of Medusa Winged booties

4. Perseus and Andromeda Composition Triangular – gives structure and focus to the narrative. Pose Theatrical – 4 th style a view not on an architectural world, but a mythological one.

5. Perseus and Andromeda Drapery  Catenary folds  Zig-zag folds  Irregularity – naturalism  Layering – volume  Highlighting – depth and body beneath

6. Perseus and Andromeda Treatment of subject matter Romantic or heroic? Evidence for each

7. Perseus and Andromeda Anatomy  Almost sculptural  Idealise  Bulging calf muscles and biceps  Knee not prefect  Raised wrist at unusual, but possible angle

8. Depth created by  Atmospheric perspective – e.g. hazier tones at the top  Overlapping – e.g. hand on arm  Shadows – e.g. on the rocks beneath Andromeda  Highlighting – e.g. knee of Andromeda  Shading – e.g. boots of Perseus; side of monster’s face  ¾ pose – e.g. Perseus  Foreshortening – e.g.Andromeda’s upper arm Perseus and Andromeda

9. Greek influence A copy of a Greek painting from the mid 4th century, painted by Nicias.  There is great similarity in them in terms of triangularity of composition.  pose of Perseus  sculptural treatment of the musculature of Perseus  drapery of Andromeda are such features.  Other copies…

10. Perseus and Andromeda, 1st cent. A.D., Pompeian wall painting, House of Apollo, 4th style (Naples: Nat'l. Mus.) Perseus and Andromeda

11. Mosaic from North Africa – 3 rd century AD Perseus and Andromeda

12. Greek influence  contrast of dark flesh for male figure and pale for female is also a Greek iconographical convention.  The close likeness to the anatomy and drapery to sculptured forms is a heavy Greek influence - Roman paintings of human forms tended to be more naturalistic.

13. Perseus and Andromeda Greek influence The painting focus almost entirely on the human participants in the foreground; little attention is paid to the faint and negligible background. This is rather more typical of the Greek view of the world - that the universe is man- centred; rather than the Roman view which was interested in landscape.