Perseus and Andromeda

Joachim Antonisz. Wtewael's Perseus and Andromeda (1611) is a masterpiece of Dutch Mannerism, depicting the mythological hero Perseus rescuing the princess Andromeda chained to a rock as sacrifice to a sea monster. Wtewael was one of the last great Mannerist painters of northern Europe, maintaining the tradition of elegant, complex figure compositions and artificial color even as the more naturalistic Baroque style of Caravaggio and Rubens was transforming European painting. His Perseus and Andromeda is prized for its extraordinary color — turquoise, coral, acid yellow, flesh pink — applied in tight, enamel-like strokes to small copper panels, creating images of jewel-like intensity.

Wtewael's Mannerist technique deploys an extraordinary chromatic range — clear, almost artificial colors — applied with precise, controlled brushwork on copper panel. The figures twist in elegant serpentine poses characteristic of Mannerist figural composition. The sea monster and dramatic sky are rendered with the same technical elaboration as the human figures.