The Rescue of Andromeda

319, Lot: 197. Estimate $150. Sold for $950. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, Deultum. Macrinus. AD 217-218. Æ (22mm, 5.68 g, 7h). Radiate and cuirassed bust right / Persus standing left, with right foot on rock, holding head of Medusa and harpa in left hand, freeing Andromeda with right; below, sea-monster turned to stone. Draganov 119 (O19/R587); Youroukova 61; Varbanov 2129. Good VF, flaking green patina. Interesting mythological type.

This reverse type reflects an established tradition of depicting Perseus and Andromeda. Similar conceptions of the rescue of the princess following the slaying of the Cetus Aethiopicus (“Ethiopian sea-monster”) are found on frescoes and mosaics.