Danaë

Correggio's Danaë (c. 1530) at the Galleria Borghese is part of the Loves of Jupiter series and depicts the mythological princess whose father imprisoned her in a bronze tower to prevent a prophecy of his death at the hands of her son — only for Jupiter to impregnate her as a shower of gold. Correggio renders the golden shower as literal coins falling from above, the erotic reality of the divine approach mediated through the material form of the gift. The playful Cupids who accompany the scene — one unwinding Danaë's dress, another examining an arrow — give the painting the combination of mythological narrative and visual delight that characterized his most successful mythological commissions.

The luminous rendering of Danaë's flesh against the white sheets creates an extraordinary effect of radiant sensuality, with the golden rain of coins adding both narrative and visual richness to the composition.