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Andromeda
About the Artwork
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.
Exhibition history
The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1988-January 15, 1989).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Antonio Tarsia (Italian, 1663–1739)
- Date
- c. 1720–30
- Medium
- terracotta
- Dimensions
- Overall: 25.5 x 32 x 19.5 cm (10 1/16 x 12 5/8 x 7 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee in memory of Professor Donald Weeks
- Accession no.
- 1981.227
Provenance
before 1964: Private collection July 1964: (sold, Sotheby's, London, 30 July 1964, no. 113, as "probably Austrian, early 18th c.," to Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee) 1964–1981: Dr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Lee, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1981–present: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010658
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