Danaë
     The chaste daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, Danaë was confined by her father in a bronze chamber (or tower) because he had learned from an oracle that the child she bore would kill him. During her confinement, however, Zeus (Jupiter) appeared to her in a shower of gold and impregnated her. Danaë gave birth to a son, Perseus. When Acrisius discovered the child, he put both him and his mother in a chest and cast them into the sea. They drifted onto the island of Seriphos, where they were sheltered by Dictys, brother of King Polydectes. Polydectes proposed marriage to Danaë, but she refused and was persecuted for it. When Perseus was grown he rescued her and took her back to Argos.
     The theme was particularly popular in Renaissance treatments of the nude. In medieval interpretations Danaë became a symbol of chastity and a prefiguration of the Annunciation.