Perseus Rescuing Andromeda

Perseus swoops down on winged sandals to kill the sea-monster while Andromeda, chained to the rock at the left, waits to be freed; crowds in fanciful foreign dress gather along the shores, some breaking into music. The dragon is one of the great inventions of Renaissance whimsy - part fish, part beast, thrashing in the shallows. Piero di Cosimo, an eccentric who loved myth and animals above all, fills the long panel with incident and color, the story drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It likely celebrated a wedding, the rescued bride a flattering omen; his Simonetta and his mourning satyr are also in this collection.