Who is the person peeking from behind the curtain in Rembrandt’s Danaë?

Well, that would be the Princess Danae’s elderly guardian or nurse, trying to see just what is going on with that strange golden light streaming in directly at her charge. That strange golden light is actually Zeus, who has changed himself into this light in order to impregnate the imprisoned Danae. This is one of the perks of being a mythological god, so why not try it this way and see if it works? It turns out that appearing as a golden ray of light works pretty well: Danae conceives and has a son, Perseus.

This painting is based on a story from Greek mythology where Danae’s father, King Akrisios, locked Danae in a tower (or an underground chamber, depending on version of story) because he learned from a prophesy that her son would grow up to kill him. As we have seen, she does give birth to a son, and when her father finds out, he puts them both in a bronze chest and throws it into the sea. Of course, they both survive and Perseus eventually does indeed cause the death of King Akrisios, but that is another story for another day (or another painting!).

As interesting as this myth is, the account of the painting itself is no slouch, either. First off, this a pretty large painting, even as far as 17th century paintings go. This one measures approximately 6 x 6.5 feet, and it was even larger than that before being cut down, probably in the mid-1640s. Strips from the top, and both sides were cut off; this removed the 2nd left bedpost and other small details. During this same period, Rembrandt reworked this canvas, painting over Danae’s body, the bedding, table, and guardian.

The story of this painting takes a truly disturbing turn when, in 1985, a man described as deranged or bitter, attacked the painting with a knife, cutting near Danae’s belly. Since this did not do enough damage to satisfy this individual, he then proceeded to throw sulfuric acid onto the painting, severely damaging Danae’s legs, arms, and head. To make things even worse, there were no conservators at work that day at the State Hermitage Museum, so eventually two professors from the Institute of Technology arrived and suggested that water be poured, thrown, even spat at the affected areas to help slow the damage.

It was later revealed that the man, a Lithuanian national, had explosives strapped to his legs and had committed this act because, at the age of 48, he was still a virgin and had to take out his sexual frustration on something, because that’s what you do. The restoration took years to complete and it wasn’t until the late 90s that the painting went back on display.