BENEDETTO GENNARI (CENTO 1633-BOLOGNA 1715)
Danaë Receiving the Shower of Gold
c.1672-74RCIN 402934
In mythology, Danaë's father locked her in a tower to keep away suitors, because it had been foretold that he would be killed by her son. Zeus visited her in a shower of gold, and Danaë bore the hero Perseus, who accidently killed his grandfather. Gennari paints Zeus as a rain of golden coins, and bathes Danaë with golden light from the heavens.