The actress Kitty Fisher as Danae

Reynolds's Kitty Fisher as Danae from 1764 at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin is among his most sophisticated engagements with the classical tradition — a multilayered jest that simultaneously celebrates Fisher's beauty, satirizes her status as a kept woman, and demonstrates Reynolds's classical erudition. The myth of Danae — the princess imprisoned by her father who receives Jupiter in the form of a shower of golden coins — had been treated by Titian, Rembrandt, and Klimt as the quintessential subject of sexual transaction expressed in mythological terms. Reynolds's decision to cast the most famous courtesan of Georgian London in this role is both brilliantly witty and deeply knowing: Danae receiving golden coins is simultaneously a classical goddess and a contemporary woman receiving payment, and the painting's playful conflation of the two levels was certainly understood by its original audience. The Gemäldegalerie Berlin's holding of the canvas reflects the extraordinary international dispersal of Reynolds's works through the art market, with major paintings appearing in German, French, American, and Russian collections as well as British ones.

The mythological disguise portrait combines classical composition with contemporary reference. Reynolds's handling transforms portrait into literary commentary.