Andromeda fred by Perseus, Piero di Cosimo
The link is to a version on Wikimedia Commons (note that the high-resolution file linked form that page is almost 30mb). There is also a zoomable version on Google Art Project. the original is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, but I can’t find an image on the official site.
Piero di Cosimo’s fantastical vision of the myth of Perseus freeing Andromeda from her intended fate as sea monster bait is full of wonderfully quirky and imaginative details, befitting contemporary fantasy subjects. I particularly enjoy his textural approach to the sea monster, landscape and foliage — not to mention those marvelous waves.
(If someone hasn’t already done so, I’d love to see those musical instruments remade as modern versions, preferably electrified and playing some kind of bizarre art rock.)
Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence is a major retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work, currently on display at the National Gallery of Art, DC; that runs until May 3, 2015.
It includes this work and many others from several museums. There is an overview of the images in the form of small thumbnails on the press page; you can look them up on the internet for more detail.
There is a book accompanying the exhibition, for which a detail of this painting was chosen for the cover: Piero Di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence.
