Reframing Andromeda
Learn more about the historical whitewashing of Andromeda in art and its impact on representation.
Titian's Perseus and Andromeda (1554/1556) by TitianThe Wallace Collection
Readers who know their Greek mythology may recognise the damsel in distress shown in this oil painting by the Venetian Renaissance artist Titian.
It is Andromeda, the beautiful princess of classical legend, who was offered up in human sacrifice to appease the gods made angry by her mother's vanity.
Her plight has already triggered the epic battle between the hero Perseus and the ferocious sea monster sent to devour her.
Their fight rages over the water, while the immobilised princess's vulnerable body cuts across the composition, a poignant reminder of the fragile human life at stake. Love wins out: Perseus rescues Andromeda and carries her off to Greece to reign as his queen.
But should we really associate the figure of Andromeda with the pale body Titian gave her? After all, she was the daughter of Ethiopian rulers.
Perseus and Andromeda (1723) by François LemoyneThe Wallace Collection
In his Heroides, the Roman mythographer Ovid specifically evoked the 'dark Andromeda', a description more in line with her parentage.
The phenomenon of 'whitewashing' – making black female figures white – is all too common throughout the history of western art and literature.
The Death of Cleopatra (1659/1663) by Guido Cagnacci, called Guido CanlassiKunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Heroines such as the Queen of Sheba, Cleopatra, and, of course, Andromeda have been fundamentally altered, their cultural ties and lineage denied in an effort to adhere to standards conflating whiteness and beauty.
Titian's Perseus and Andromeda (1554/1556) by TitianThe Wallace Collection
Viewers may at least meet the true Andromeda of Ovidian lore in Bernard Picart’s etching of 1731, with her skin colour in contrast to the whiteness of the rock and the gulls around her, this Andromeda is clearly a black woman and unmistakably the beautiful princess of legend.
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