Peter Paul RubensFlemish, 1577–1640Perseus and Andromeda
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
State Hermitage Museum
Room247Saint Petersburg, Russia
On public display.
- Checked
- 29 Aug 2026
- In this state since
- Aug 30, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Perseus and Andromeda is a 1622 painting in the Hermitage Museum by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens of the ancient Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda after the former's defeat of the Gorgon. The composition is similar to that of an earlier painting by Rubens, Perseus frees Andromeda (now Gemäldegalerie, Berlin).
Perseus, in the centre of the painting, is surrounded by three putti, one holding the shield with Gorgon's reflection, one wearing the hero's helmet, while the third holds the winged horse Tobiano Pegasus. Above, Victory, the goddess of glory, is depicted in the act of placing a crown on the hero's head. Two other putti free Andromeda from the rock to which she is tied. Cetus, the sea monster defeated by the hero, is shown below.
Read on
This painting probably remained in Rubens' house until his death; an engraving from 1684, depicting the façade of Rubens' house in Antwerp, shows the painting through the window of the second floor. In the summer of 1769 the painting was acquired by the Russian Hermitage Museum from the collections of Heinrich von Brühl. It is now housed in the Rubens Hall on the second floor of the Hermitage Museum.
Particulars
- Accession number
- ГЭ-461
In the catalog
Sources
- State Hermitage Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 29 Aug 2026
- Image: State Hermitage Museum — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Peter Paul Rubens
The whole life1619–1620
Privileges for Engravings (Copyright)
Rubens obtained "privileges" — an early analogue of copyright — for the reproduction of his engravings: in France for 10 years on 3 July 1619, in Holland for 7 years on 24 February 1620, and also in the territory of the Spanish Netherlands.
1621
Marie de' Medici's Commission for the Luxembourg Palace Cycles
The Queen Mother of France, Marie de' Medici, commissioned from Rubens two large allegorical cycles for the Luxembourg Palace — one on her own life and one on the life of the late Henry IV; the second series was never completed.
1621
Employed by: Marie de' Medici
1622
Publication of "The Palaces of Genoa"
The two-volume Palazzi di Genova, with 139 engraved plates, was published; Rubens had prepared it with Deodato del Monte as early as 1607 to acquaint the Flemish with Italian architecture.
1624
Ennoblement by Philip IV
King Philip IV of Spain raised Rubens to the nobility.
5 June 1624
Post: court painter
