Perseo liberando a Andrómeda

The story is from Greek myth. Perseus, flying home on winged sandals after killing the gorgon Medusa, finds the princess Andromeda chained to a rock, left as a sacrifice to a sea monster. He kills the beast and frees her, and here Rubens catches the moment just after, as the hero steps forward, a winged victory reaches to crown him and small cupids fuss around the couple. It is Rubens at his most sensuous and warm, all soft flesh, gleaming armour and fluttering movement. Andromeda's pale body against the dark rock is the point every eye is led toward. Perseus would go on to marry her.