Medusa
Caravaggio, Medusa, 1597, Uffizi, Florence, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 60 cm x 55 cm
Jimin Park
Through this curator’s remark, I will be analyzing Caravaggio’s medusa from my personal perspective. I will discuss the visual, emotional, and historical aspects of this piece that are significant to me. In Caravaggio’s Medusa, Medusa’s face right before she is beheaded is depicted on a canvas. It is important to know the Greek mythology of Medusa to fully understand this art piece. It is unclear if Medusa was an attractive and beautiful gorgon, but Medusa is called “fair-cheeked Medusa,” suggesting her erotic aspects (Morford, M., et al.). In Greek mythology, a gorgon is portrayed as a monster figure, and Medusa caused petrifaction, causing anyone who looked at her to turn into stone (“Gorgon.”). Perseus, a demi-god, was sent by Polydectes, the king of Seriphos, to kill Medusa and bring her head back with him. On this dangerous journey, Perseus received help from Athena and Hermes and eventually beheaded Medusa using the reflection of his shield. This exact moment of her beheading is illustrated beautifully by Caravaggio.
One of the most visually striking parts of Medusa is the snakes on her head instead of normal hair. The venomous snakes seem to be almost tangled with each other, and they point in many different directions. The tangled snakes give a sense of conflict and stress to the audience, which could potentially tie back to the theme of maiden’s abduction. Maiden’s abduction is a common theme in Greek mythology as there are other abducted maidens such as Persephone, Thetis, and Helen (Topper, Kathryn.). Other artistic and literary depictions and analyses of Medusa may suggest that the Greeks perceived Medusa’s death as a varied portrayal of the theme: maiden’s abduction (La Fond 06:13-06:26). It is possible that Caravaggio was aware that Medusa’s death was a variation of the theme and intentionally put elements that reflect that particular theme. The blood coming out of Medusa’s neck is illustrated realistically with abrupt paint brush strokes, which helps the audience vividly imagine the exact moment. Caravaggio also uses shadows brilliantly to create a realistic portrait of Medusa. From the audience’s view, the right side of Medusa’s face is much darker than the left side, which hints at the position Perseus or his shield was at. This helps us properly position ourselves to view the art piece. Furthermore, we can see that Medusa is fully conscious despite her severed head, which portrays the irony of both living and dying.
In addition, the color of the canvas is dark green with a hint of olive in the center. I felt that this canvas color ties to the emotional aspects of this piece due to the somber and gloomy atmosphere the dark green color radiates. The frightened facial expression evokes fear and horror in the audience as well. The wrinkled glabella, which is the space in between her eyebrows, the dilated pupils looking in one direction, and the wide-opened mouth all contribute to the dark and fearful atmosphere of this piece.
At the center of the painting is what we expect to be Medusa’s face since the snakes on the head suggest that it is Medusa. However, the face is actually Caravaggio’s self-portrait (“Why Did Caravaggio Paint Medusa?”). I felt that this explains the more prominent traditional masculine features such as the bigger cheekbones and rigid-looking eyebrows. I thought it was interesting that the facial features had less traditional feminine features for a drawing of a beautiful gorgon. A remarkable detail of this piece that stands out to me most is the type of snakes Caravaggio drew. Caravaggio was familiar with watersnakes from the Tiber river as he lived near the Tiber river. I find it fascinating that almost every element in this painting has a story or reason behind it. It seems that Caravaggio refers to the Greek mythology of Medusa, the theme of maiden’s abduction, and the theme of life and death through the visual, emotional, and historical aspects of this piece.
Ria Patel
The Medusa piece was painted by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in 1597/98, in which the painting tells the story of the beheading of the Gorgon, Medusa by the Greek mythical hero, Perseus. In this Curator’s Remark, I will be analyzing the storyline and portrayal of Medusa in Caravaggio’s painting with the materials I learned in class, in addition to why Caravaggio painted the Medusa the way that he did.
Let us begin with a description of Medusa. Medusa is one of three sisters in the Gorgon family; her two sisters being Stheno and Euryale (Morford et al. 171). Medusa is depicted as having serpents as hair, and a gaze so petrifying that caused anyone who looked at her to turn to stone. However, Medusa was the only Gorgon sister who was mortal, and could easily catch mens’ attention (La Fond 6:27-6:47). With Medusa’s once beauty, she caught the attention of Poseidon, resulting in a love affair and their two kids. This angered Athena, causing Medusa to lose her once beauty and transform into a hideous creature described above (Madeleine). In a story of Perseus, the king of Seriphos sent Perseus on a mission to behead and retrieve the head of Medusa. With the assistance of Athena and Hermes, Perseus was able to receive magical goods from the nymphs and the location of the Gorgon sisters from the Graeae. Additionally, the nymphs gave Perseus a kibisis (a bag to hold the head of Medusa), a cap of invisibility, and winged sandals, while Hermes gave Perseus a blade to behead Medusa (La Fond 2:55-3:07). There are different explanations as to how Perseus beheaded Medusa, since her gaze caused petrification. For example, Perseus could have looked away from Medusa as he beheaded her, killed her while she was asleep, or used a shield/mirror to view her reflection (La Fond 3:07-3:25). As Medusa was beheaded, she birthed Chrysaor and Pegasus with whom she had with Poseidon (Morford et al. 543).
Now let us describe Caravaggio’s perspective of his painting, his interpretation of the Medusa myth, and what the painting demonstrates. The artist understood and interpreted Medusa as a powerful mortal, in which she had the skills of petrification. Caravaggio’s painting focuses on the part where Medusa’s head is severed, but she is still conscious. At this point, Medusa is looking at her reflection as she is beheaded and defeated. I believe this aspect of Caravaggio’s piece is quite compelling, because it forces the audience to look within ourselves at the horrors/troubles each of us caused, in which we are the monster (Medusa), and at one point, we all will view our defeat in our own mirrors/reflections. Caravaggio wanted to portray this painting as a message to demonstrate that if anyone causes trouble/chaos, similarly to how Medusa slept with Poseidon and petrified anyone that looked her way, defeat is bound. Overall, Caravaggio interpreted the Medusa myth similarly to how we discussed it in class, however, he focused his painting around the idea of Medusa’s defeat.
Caravaggio displayed a similar template of Medusa’s myth by describing Medusa as a “Gorgon monster, a terrifying female creature from the Greek Mythology” (“Medusa”). Caravaggio incorporates the fact that Medusa was beheaded by Perseus who used a mirror shield to avoid eye contact with her, and that “after Medusa's death, her decapitated head continued to petrify those that looked at it” (“Medusa”). A unique aspect that Caravaggio toys with in this painting is using his facial features instead of Medusa’s features for the face of the painting. This was one of the differences I noticed between what I learned from class and the portrayal of Medusa in the painting. Additionally, symbolism is represented in the piece of art. For example, the shield that Medusa's head is painted on symbolizes the shield that Perseus used to kill Medusa, as it was the “only” way the hero could kill the Gorgon without petrification. To make this piece as realistic to his face as possible, Caravaggio used a mirror to carefully paint his face in place of Medusa’s. It is possible that Caravaggio wanted Medusa’s face in the painting to be similar enough to Medusa’s actual face, in order for people to not recognize the differences. Furthermore, Caravaggio displays Medusa’s “dramatic scream and her shocked eyes” due to her demise (“Medusa”). However, this is somewhat ironic because she believed herself to be truly invincible and was killed this way, despite Medusa not being immortal. As Medusa is painted on the mirrored shield, Caravaggio does this to showcase Medusa viewing her own defeat by looking at herself through the shield/mirror.
The portrayal of Medusa in Caravaggio’s painting similarly depicts the material we learned in class. Caravaggio’s interpretation centers around the fact that everyone will face defeat due to our troubles and problems caused, similar to Medusa’s defeat. This represents Caravaggio’s interpretation of the Medusa myth because her demise was a monumental moment in her story. Through this process, we gain a larger understanding of Medusa's symbolism and how she was defeated.
Works Cited
“Gorgon.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Jan. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gorgon.
La Fond, Marie. “Man on a Mission: Heroic Quests.” Greek and Roman Mythology. 16 Feb. 2023, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1619626/pages/lesson-8-video-lectures?module_item_id=17175867. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023.
La Fond, Marie. “Lesson 8 Video #4: Destination Argos: Adventures of Perseus.” University of Washington, January 2023, https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1619626/pages/lesson-8-video-lectures?module_item_id=17175867
Madeleine. “The Curse of Medusa in Greek Mythology.” THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY - Exploring Mythology in Classical Literature & Art, 2 Dec. 2019, https://www.theoi.com/articles/the-curse-of-medusa-in-greek-mythology/.
“Medusa, 1597 by Caravaggio.” Caravaggio, https://www.caravaggio.org/medusa.jsp.
Morford, M., et al. Classical Mythology. 11th ed., Oxford University Press, 2019.
Topper, Kathryn. “Perseus, the Maiden Medusa, and the Imagery of Abduction.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 76, no. 1, 2007, pp. 73–105. JSTOR, https://www-jstor-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/25068013?seq=1. Accessed 16 Feb. 2023.
“Why Did Caravaggio Paint Medusa?” The Collector, 21 Mar. 2022, https://www.thecollector.com/why-did-caravaggio-paint-medusa/.