2-722-945 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Andromeda, c. 1720-1730. To stop attacks by a sea monster sent to punish Queen Cassiopeia for bragging that she was more beautiful than the nymphs of the sea, an oracle decreed that her virgin daughter, Andromeda, be tied to a rock and sacrificed to the creature. The hero Perseus would eventually save her, but artists often chose this moment as an opportunity to display a young, nude woman, justified by a veneer of mythology.