03 — ARTWORK
Mademoiselle Lange as Danaë
GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON, Anne-Louis · 1799 →
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm
- TYPE
- Portrait
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 903 × 1068 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Girodet first depicted the actress Mademoiselle Lange as Venus, standing on her couch, her face turned from the viewer (Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig). When the actress expressed her annoyance at the painting, Girodet painted her again, this time in mythological form, Mademoiselle Lange as Danaë.
The oval canvasA woven cloth used as a support for painting. The best-quality canvas is made of linen; other materials used are cotton, hemp, and jute. It is now so familiar a material that the word 'canvas' has become almost a synonym for an oil painting, but it was not until around 1500 that it began to rival the wooden panel (which was more expensive and took longer to prepare) as the standard support for movable paintings (the transition came later in Northern Europe than in Italy). Canvas is not suitable for painting on until it has been coated with a ground, which isolates the fabric from the paint; otherwise it will absorb too much paint, only very rough effects will be obtainable, and parts of the fabric may be rotted by the pigments. It must also be made taut on a stretcher or by some other means. again reveals her lap unclothed, and in light fingers she holds a broken mirror, the symbol of VanitasA painting (or element in painting) that acts as a reminder of the inevitabiliry of death, and the pointlessness of earthly ambitions and achievements. Common vanitas-symbols include skulls, guttering candles, hour-glasses and clocks, overturned vessels, and even flowers (which will soon fade). The vanitas theme became popular during the Baroque, with the vanitas still life flourishing in Dutch art.. At her feet lies the attributeA symbolic object which is conventionally used to identify a particular person, usually a saint. In the case of martyrs, it is usually the nature of their martyrdom. of Jupiter, a bundle of fire. But Jupiter is not present in the form of the royal eagle, instead we see a turkey-cock. Cupid is looking out of the picture at the viewer and holding up the cloth that covered the actress' lap with an inviting gesture. The painting caused a scandal in the SalonIn the French language of the 18th and 19th centuries it designated an actual exhibition space, as well as the academic art exhibitions staged in the Salon d'Apollon of the Louvre since 1667. From 1737, the exhibitions took place biennially and, after the French Revolution, annually in the Salon Carré of the Louvre in Paris. Towards the end of the 19th century the official Salon jury was dissolved in order to make way for a committee of state-approved artists, i.e. former Salon members, who created the highly influential Société des Artistes Français. of 1799 and had to be withdrawn. The actress' career was over, and Girodet fell into disfavour.
Danaë is frequently represented in Renaissance and BaroqueThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies. painting. You can view <A onclick="return OpenOther('/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=danae&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&caption=Depictions+of+Danaë')" HREF="/cgi-bin/search.cgi?author=&title=danae&comment=&time=any&school=any&form=any&type=any&location=&header=0&other=0&caption=Depictions+of+Danaë">other depictions</A> of Danaë in the Web Galleryan upper story, similar to a tribune, running along the side of a building and open on one side to the interior; in a church (basilica) above the side aisles, over the ambulatory (central-plan building) and also over the west end. The gallery was used to keep certain groups of worshippers apart (women, noblemen). of Art. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 5 minutes):<BR><A HREF="#" onClick="w=window.open ('/music1/20_cent/strauss_danae.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350');w.opener=this;w.focus();return true"><B>Richard Strauss: Danaë's Love, Danaë's monologue</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE>
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r7e337d292d1c09,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Mademoiselle Lange as Danaë by GIRODET DE ROUCY-TRIOSON, Anne-Louis},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/girodet-de-roucy-trioson-anne-louis-r51865e4c05e49a/mademoiselle-lange-as-dana-r7e337d292d1c09},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
