The most prominent exponent of 18th-century Neoclassicism Anton Mengs constantly referred to the heritage of Antiquity in search for perfect forms in art. The subject of this painting was inspired by an antique cameo belonging to Mengs's wife (now also in the Hermitage). The figure of Perseus is based on the statue of the Apollo Belvedere, and the mosaic The Rescue of Hesione by Heracles and Telamon from the Villa Albani in Rome. The artist's attention to the modelling of forms reveals his interest in the Italian Renaissance.