Andromeda and the Sea Monster by Domenico Guidi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2014

Andromeda and the Sea Monster

Artist: Domenico Guidi (Italian, 1625–1701)

Patron: Commissioned by Francesco II, Duke of Mantua and Reggio (Italian, 1660–1694) , who died before the sculpture's completion

Date: 1694

Culture: Italian, Rome

Medium: Marble

Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 64 3/8 x 46 3/8 x 34 5/8 in. (163.5 x 117.8 x 87.9 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: Purchase, Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation Inc. Gift and Charles Ulrick and Josephine Bay Foundation Inc. Gift, 1967

Accession Number: 67.34


Acquired in Rome by John Cecil, the fifth Earl of Exeter (1648-1700), this sculpture was long believed to have been the work of Pierre-Étienne Monnot, the French-born sculptor who carved the English statesman's funerary monument. The Andromeda, thoroughly Roman Baroque in conception and treatment, was once thought to have been merely influenced by Domenico Guidi, Monnot's mentor, but now seen to be Guidi's own work.

The sculpture has recently been identified as the Andromeda (previously considered lost) originally commissioned by Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena, who died before acquiring it. John Cecil bought the work for Burghley House, his Northamptonshire residence, where it remained until this century.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/204720