Rembrandt's famous painting "Danae" is of interest not only for the masterful work of the Dutch artist, but also for his difficult fate. At the end of the last century, they tried to destroy it, and the restorers had to spend twelve years on the restoration of the canvas.
Rembrandt created his "Danube" for eleven years, starting in 1636. As a plot, the artist used the ancient Greek myth of Danai. Today, anyone can see the picture in the Hermitage, it is located on the second floor of the main building in the hall, where the works of artists of the Flemish and Dutch schools are exhibited.
The plot of the picture
A beautiful nude woman is lying in her luxurious bed. Warm sunlight falls into the room, and the woman extended her right hand towards him, as if trying to touch. She is not beautiful in the modern sense of the word - large hips, full belly, curvaceous. However, at the time of Rembrandt, it was such women who were real symbols of beauty.
In the background an old servant peeps, and over the head of the main character of the picture, the artist depicted a suffering baby with wings.
The painting is based on the ancient Greek myth of the beautiful Danai. King Acrisius, ruler of the city of Argos, learned from foretellers that he would die due to the fault of his own grandson, whom his daughter Danae would give birth to. To deceive fate, the king decided to hide his daughter in an underground copper house. Despite this, God Zeus managed to get into the chambers of Danai, pouring a golden rain. After the visit of the thunderer, Danae gave birth to a son Perseus, who subsequently really killed his grandfather.
The penetration of Zeus in a golden rain to a languishing captive was a frequent plot for artists of those times. Similar paintings are in Titian, Gossart, Klimt, Kollergio. However, they all depicted on their canvases the golden rain, which is mentioned in the myth. Rembrandt has no rain, and the logical question arises - is the myth of Danube really the basis of the picture?
X-ray studies, which were carried out in the middle of the twentieth century, showed that initially there was still golden rain. And this means that the picture is still dedicated to the beautiful daughter Acrisius, imprisoned by her own father in the dungeon.
History of creation
The first version of Danai was written in 1636, two years after the Dutch artist’s wedding with his wife Saxia. In a naked woman, Rembrandt embodied the features of his beloved wife, whom he often made the heroine of his work.
However, the family happiness of the lovers was short-lived. Poor health did not allow Saxia to acquire healthy offspring. All children died in infancy, only one managed to survive - Titus. After his birth, Saxia lived for nine months, and then died. Mourning the loss of his wife, Rembrandt found a new love in the person of Gertier Dirks, who, after the death of Saxia, became Titus's nanny.
Having found consolation in the face of Gertier, in 1642 Rembrandt returned to the picture and rewrote it. It is this corrected version that has reached our days.
As shown by x-ray, the artist changed the facial features of Danai, and she began to resemble Gertier Dirks more than the late wife of the painter.
In addition, Danae initially looked not towards the light, but at the golden rain pouring from above. In the first edition of the picture, the hand is turned palm down, symbolizing goodbye, and in the second it is invitingly raised up. In the face of the golden Cupid over the woman’s bed, changes have also occurred. If in the first version he was cheerful, then in the second he looked suffering, as if he mourned the happiness that had passed with the death of Saxia.
Another important nuance, which was determined by x-ray, is connected with the absence in the second version of the picture of the bedspread covering Danai's hips. With his help, Rembrandt seemed to protect the intimacy of his wife, but he did not want to do this with Dirks.
Initially, Rembrandt did not plan to sell “Danae”, it was dear to him as a memory of lost love. However, after the death of his wife, the financial situation deteriorated sharply. There were fewer orders, and debts only grew. In 1656, the artist declared bankruptcy. All property, including the house, was sold out, and the Danae disappeared from sight for a hundred years. The following references to her are connected with the name of Catherine the Great, who acquired the painting for the Winter Palace from the relatives of the famous collector from France Pierre Croz.
Self portrait in Danae
In addition to the young woman, the artist depicted an old maid in the picture, who, according to the myth, was put to Danae by her father. However, if you look closely at the old woman, then in her rude facial features you can recognize Rembrandt himself! The version is confirmed by the artist’s self-portrait on which he is depicted in a similar beret.
I must say that self-portraits were not uncommon for the Dutch painter. In the painting "Exaltation of the Cross" at the feet of the crucified Jesus, the author of the painting is very clearly visible. Also on canvas "The Prodigal Son in the Tavern" again depicts Rembrandt in the image of a cheerful reveler.
Vandalism act
One sunny June day in 1985, an unobtrusive middle-aged man visited the Hermitage. After finding a room with Rembrandt’s paintings, he asked the museum workers which of the most valuable works was presented. Learning that this was Danae, the man approached the canvas and quickly pierced it with a knife several times. Leaving a gaping hole in the picture, the visitor splashed sulfuric acid onto the picture. The liquid got on the chest, face and legs of Danai, bubbles began to appear on the canvas and the color began to change. It seemed that the great work of Rembrandt was hopelessly corrupted.
Vandal turned out to be a resident of Lithuania Brunus Maigiyas. He explained his actions by political convictions (Brunus was a Lithuanian nationalist). He later abandoned this version, saying that he hates women more than anything and wants to stop the debauchery embodied in the image of Danai. After some time, the Lithuanian vandal again changed his testimony, saying that in such an unusual way he decided to draw the attention of the public.
At the end of August 1985, the Dzerzhinsky court found the criminal insane and sent him to compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital in Chernyakhovsk. After six years in the hospital, Maigijasa was transferred to a similar institution in Lithuania, from where he successfully left immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bronus Maygis never repented of his deed and did not regret his act. Moreover, he said that the museum’s employees themselves were to blame for what happened, because they poorly guarded a masterpiece of world art.
