The famous painting by Rembrandt "Danae" arouses interest not only for the masterful work of the Dutch artist, but also for its difficult fate. At the end of the last century, they tried to destroy it, and the restorers had to spend twelve years to restore the canvas.
Rembrandt created his "Danae" for eleven years, starting in 1636. As a plot, the artist used the ancient Greek myth of Danae. Today, anyone can see the painting 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 naked woman lies in her luxurious bed. Warm sunlight falls into the room, and the woman stretched out her right hand to meet him, as if trying to touch him. She is not a beauty in the modern sense of the word - large hips, a full belly, curvy shapes. However, at the time of Rembrandt, it was these women who were the real symbols of beauty.
An old maid looks out in the background, 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 Danae. King Acrisius, the ruler of the city of Argos, learned from the prophets that he would die through the fault of his own grandson, who would give birth to his daughter Danaus. 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 Danae, shedding a golden rain. After the visit of the Thunderer, Danae gave birth to a son, Perseus, who later actually killed his grandfather.
The penetration of Zeus with a golden rain to the languishing captive was a frequent subject for artists of those times. Titian, Gossart, Klimt, Collerjo have similar paintings. However, they all depicted on their canvases the golden rain, which is mentioned in the myth. Rembrandt does not rain, and a logical question arises - is the myth of Danae really at the heart of the picture?
X-ray studies, which were carried out in the middle of the twentieth century, showed that initially there was a golden shower. This means that the picture is still dedicated to the beautiful daughter of Acrisius, imprisoned in the dungeon by her own father.
History of creation
The first version of Danaë was written in 1636, two years after the Dutch artist was married to his wife Saxia. In a naked woman, Rembrandt embodied the features of his beloved wife, whom he often made the heroine of his works.
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.
Finding consolation in the person of Gertier, in 1642 Rembrandt returned to the painting and rewrote it. It is this corrected version that has survived to this day.
As shown by radiography, the artist changed the features of Danae's face, and she began to resemble Gertier Dirks more than the late wife of the painter.
In addition, initially Danae looked not towards the light, but at the golden rain pouring down from above. In the first version of the picture, the hand is turned with the palm down, symbolizing goodbye, and in the second, it is invitingly raised up. There was also a change in the face of the golden Cupid above the woman's bed. If in the first version he was cheerful, then in the second he looked suffering, as if mourning the happiness that had gone with the death of Saxia.
Another important nuance, which was determined by the X-ray, is associated with the absence in the second version of the picture of the coverlet covering Danae's thighs. With his help, Rembrandt seemed to be protecting his wife's intimacy, but he no longer wanted 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. Orders became less and less, and debts only grew. In 1656, the artist declared bankruptcy. All property, including the house, was sold out, and "Danae" disappeared from sight for a hundred years. The following references to her are associated with the name of Catherine the Great, who acquired the painting for the Winter Palace from the relatives of the famous French collector Pierre Crozat.
Self-portrait in "Danae"
In addition to a young woman, the artist depicted an old servant in the picture, who, according to myth, was assigned to Danae by her father. However, if you look closely at the old woman, you can recognize Rembrandt himself in her rough features! The version is confirmed by the artist's self-portrait, in which he is depicted in a similar beret.
I must say that self-portraits were not uncommon for a Dutch painter. In the painting "The Exaltation of the Cross" at the feet of the crucified Jesus, the author of the painting is very clearly visible. Also on the canvas "Prodigal Son in a Tavern" Rembrandt is again depicted in the form of a merry reveler.
Vandalism
One sunny June day in 1985, an unremarkable middle-aged man visited the Hermitage. Having found a room with paintings by Rembrandt, he asked the workers of the museum which of the works presented was the most valuable. Upon learning that it was "Danae", the man approached the canvas and quickly pierced it with a knife several times. Leaving a gaping hole in the painting, the visitor splashed sulfuric acid on the painting. The liquid hit Danae's chest, face and legs, bubbles began to appear on the canvas and color began to change. It seemed that the great creation of Rembrandt was hopelessly flawed.
The vandal turned out to be a resident of Lithuania Brunus Maigiyas. He explained his actions by political convictions (Brunus was a Lithuanian nationalist). Later, he abandoned this version, saying that more than anything in the world he hates women and wants to stop the debauchery embodied in the image of Danae. After some time, the Lithuanian vandal changed his testimony again, saying that in such an extraordinary way he decided to attract public attention.
At the end of August 1985, the Dzerzhinsky court found the criminal insane and sent him for compulsory treatment to a psychiatric hospital in Chernyakhovsk. After six years in the hospital, Maygiyas was transferred to a similar institution in Lithuania, from where he successfully left immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bronius Maygis never regretted what he had done and did not regret his deed. Moreover, he said that the museum workers themselves are to blame for what happened, since they poorly guarded the masterpiece of world art.
Painting restoration
After the incident, the best specialists from the Leningrad Technological Institute and the Institute of Silicate Chemistry were immediately summoned to the Hermitage to restore the painting. The center of the canvas was a jumble of dark spots, splashes and sagging. The loss of the author's painting was almost thirty percent.
On the same day, work began on the restoration of "Danae". First of all, the painting was washed abundantly with water, which made it possible to stop the destructive effect of the acid. After that, the canvas was reinforced with a special solution of fish glue and honey, so that the layers of paint would not peel off when dried.
Major restoration work has started in the Small Church of the Winter Palace. For a year and a half, the craftsmen have strengthened the soil, removed the residual traces of the acid reaction under a microscope, and were engaged in drawing up a new duplicating canvas. The next step was toning and applying oil painting techniques, as close as possible to the style of Rembrandt. In 1997, all the work was completed and Danae again appeared before the visitors of the Hermitage, but this time under reliable armored glass.
