"Danae"

Gustav Klimt - Oil
Danaë is painting by Gustav Klimt, in 1907. Danaë was used as the quintessential symbol of divine love, and transcendence. While imprisoned in a tower, she was visited by Zeus, symbolized here as the golden rain flowing between her legs. It is apparent from the subject's face that she is aroused by the golden stream. In this work, she is curled in a sumptuous royal purple veil which refers to her imperial lineage. Sometime after her celestial visitation she gave birth to a son, Perseus, who is cited later in Greek mythology for slaying the Gorgon Medusa and rescuing Andromeda.