Danae

Danae reclines on her bed as Jupiter descends to her as a dark golden cloud, Cupid drawing back the sheet while two putti at the foot test their arrows on a whetstone. The god's amorous disguise impregnates her, and from the union will come the hero Perseus. Correggio wraps the scene in soft, sensuous light and tender flesh, all delicacy and warmth. It belongs to his Loves of Jupiter, a series of the god's seductions painted for Federico Gonzaga of Mantua; two companions, the Leda and the Jupiter and Io, are also in this collection.