The Ethiopian princess Andromeda was sacrificed to appease the wrath of Neptune, god of the sea, who had been angered by her mother’s boast that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids, nymphs of the sea. The hero, Perseus, flying overhead, saw the beautiful naked girl chained to a rock offshore. Falling in love with her, he rescued her from Neptune’s sea-monster and married her. Although Lemoyne’s interpretation of the famous rescue-scene was painted before he visited Italy, it is greatly influenced by Venetian art in its sensuous colouring and technique, as well as in its composition.