Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) Perseus and Andromeda. According to the Roman poet Ovid's work Metamorphoses, Andromeda, an Ethiopian princess, was chained to cliffs as a sacrifice to a ravaging sea monster, sent by the vengeful god Poseidon to terrorise the land. Her sensuous body dominates the composition and her liberator, Perseus, is only lightly delineated in the sky.