Parution : Barbara Baert, « Petrifying Gazes. Danaë and the Uncanny Space », Louvain, Peeters Publishers, 2021
Of all the ancient myths where rain plays an important role, the impregnation of Danaë by Zeus through a golden rain is perhaps the one most often depicted in art. This essay is dedicated to the artistic afterlife of the myth, with special focus on the painting of Danaë (1527) by Jan Gossaert van Mabuse (1478-1532). Gossaert’s Danaë is a sophisticated articulation of outer and inner discourse: the hard, dry, background, with its eclectic architecture,...