A nude woman stands chained to a rocky outcrop at the left edge, her body turned toward the viewer and her head twisted back to look at a dramatic scene unfolding to her right. Her left arm is raised and shackled above her head, while her right arm stretches outward, fingers splayed in alarm as she faces the turbulent sea below. A translucent veil clings to her body and flutters behind her, and her pale skin stands out against the dark, jagged rocks and shadowy background.

In the centre, a monstrous dragon with a gaping mouth and coiling neck emerges from the water, its scales rendered in dark greens and browns, its head turned upward toward a descending figure. Above the beast, a young man in a billowing red cloak and golden tunic swoops down from the sky, his limbs twisting in mid-flight as he brandishes a curved sword in his right hand and a shield in his left. The composition is dynamic, with diagonal lines formed by Perseus’s body and the monster’s neck, and swirling brushstrokes in the water and clouds that heighten the sense of movement and peril.

The paint surface shows visible texture in the waves and rocks, while the figures are modeled with smooth, blended tones and subtle highlights. Perseus and Andromeda was created by Titian in the 1550s in Venice as part of a series of mythological scenes known as the 'poesie', made for King Philip II of Spain. The subject is drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, specifically the moment when Perseus, returning from slaying Medusa, arrives to rescue Andromeda from the sea monster sent by Poseidon or Zeus. The painting was delivered in what is now Belgium, then traveled through Spain, Italy, England, and France before returning to England.

The Wallace Collection notes that scientific imaging has revealed many changes in the composition as it developed, and the work has suffered damage and been cut down on all sides.