Danaë by Rembrandt

Danaë is one of the most famous — and most dramatic — paintings in the Hermitage. The large canvas (185 × 203 cm) was begun by Rembrandt in 1636 and later reworked; today it is shown behind protective glass, a direct consequence of the 1985 tragedy described below.

The subject

The painting draws on the Greek myth of Danaë, daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. Warned that his grandson would kill him, the king shut his daughter away — but Zeus reached her as a shower of gold, and Danaë bore the hero Perseus.

Rembrandt drops the conventional “golden rain”: instead the room fills with warm golden light, towards which the nude Danaë reaches. The gesture of her hand greeting the unseen god makes the scene intimate and human — not the myth “in general” but a living moment of anticipation.

Dating and the two models

Danaë is usually dated 1636–1647. Rembrandt began it two years after marrying Saskia van Uylenburgh, who was the first model. Around 1646–47, after a difficult period (Saskia died in 1642), he returned to the canvas and repainted the face and figure with the features of Geertje Dircx. So two of Rembrandt’s muses are fused in a single work.

How it came to the Hermitage

Danaë comes from the celebrated Paris Crozat collection. It was acquired by Catherine the Great in 1772 from the heirs of Baron Crozat de Thiers — a purchase, helped along by the philosopher Denis Diderot, that was one of the most important for the young museum.

The 1985 acid attack

On 15 June 1985 a visitor — a mentally ill Lithuanian man, Bronius Maigys — threw sulfuric acid over the canvas and slashed it twice with a knife. The acid boiled on the surface: the central part of the painting — Danaë’s face, body and outstretched hand — was almost destroyed, with about a third of the paint lost. It became one of the most notorious acts of museum vandalism, and the reason many Hermitage masterpieces are now displayed behind glass.

Twelve years of restoration

A team of Hermitage restorers worked on saving Danaë for twelve years; it returned to display only in 1997. They deliberately chose not to repaint the losses anew: the damaged areas were toned so that the picture reads as a whole at a glance, while a specialist can always tell the original from the restored. Danaë hangs again — bearing the marks of its history.

Why it matters

Danaë is one of Rembrandt’s most ambitious mythological paintings and a turning point in how he told a story. Instead of the gods and gold of his contemporaries, he gives a warm, almost domestic interior and a real woman caught in a moment of expectation. The famous golden light — flooding from the left toward the figure — does the work of the myth without any literal “rain of gold”, and shows the mastery of light that defines his whole art. Over the centuries the attribution, the dating and even the identity of the woman were all debated, which only added to the painting’s fame.

What to look for

• The golden light rather than golden rain — Rembrandt’s quiet, original solution to the myth.
• The welcoming gesture of Danaë’s hand, which turns a mythological scene into a human one.
• The two muses in one face — begun from Saskia, reworked with the features of Geertje Dircx.
• The protective glass — a reminder of the 1985 attack; look at the surface and you sense how much was at stake in the restoration.

Which room it’s in

Danaë is in Room 254 — the Rembrandt room on the first floor of the New Hermitage, beside the Return of the Prodigal Son. Use the floor plan; to fit it into your visit, see the one-day itinerary.

FAQ

Which room is Danaë in? Room 254 (the Rembrandt room), on the first floor of the Main Museum Complex.

What happened to the painting in 1985? A visitor threw sulfuric acid on it and slashed it; restoration took 12 years, and it returned to display in 1997.

Who was the model for Danaë? First Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh; he later repainted the figure with the features of Geertje Dircx.

Can I photograph it? Yes — photography without flash or a tripod is generally allowed in the galleries; the painting is behind protective glass.