Perseus Armed by Mercury and Minerva

Perseus Armed by Mercury and Minerva, circa 1550, in the Birmingham Museum of Art, depicts the mythological preparation for Perseus's slaying of Medusa: Mercury provides the winged sandals and adamantine sword while Minerva contributes her polished shield, which Perseus will use as a mirror to avoid Medusa's petrifying gaze. Paris Bordone, a Treviso-born painter trained under Titian, produced this work during his mature career when he was balancing Venetian sensuality with Mannerist influence absorbed from north Italian and transalpine sources. The Birmingham painting shows Bordone at his most elegant — the three figures disposed in graceful conversation, the armour and attributes rendered with the Venetian love of luxury surface.

Bordone's Venetian training is evident in the warm flesh tones and the richly rendered armour surfaces. The three-figure composition is arranged in a shallow triangular space, the figures' gestures creating a chain of exchange — Mercury to Perseus to Minerva. The gilded metalwork of armour and sandals gives the painting its characteristic lustre.