2014 Uffizi Gallery, Florence: Testa di Medusa #2
This is the second version of Medusa painted by Caravaggio. This “Head of Medusa” executed by Caravaggio, in 1598, was commissioned as a cerimonial shield by Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, the Medici family’s agent in Rome.
Medusa was a gorgon with a mane of serpents for hair. She was so repulsive, that whoever looked at her, supposedly turned to stone. Perseus, the Greek hero, was given a shield by the goddess Athena, so that he could avoid looking at her, as he decapitated or beheaded her.
Medusa in Caravaggio’s painting is portrayed at the moment of self-recognition. Realizing that her head and body were no longer one, and that she was still conscious, Caravaggio depicts the horror in her eyes. Caravaggio displays huge technical achievements in this work by making a convex surface look concave and Medusa’s head appear to project outward.
Oil on canvas mounted on wood
Dimensions: 24 in × 22 in, 60 cm × 55 cm
The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi), is one of the main museums in Florence, and among the oldest and most famous art museums of Europe.
The building of Uffizi was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, "offices". The construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The cortile (internal courtyard) is so long and narrow, and open to the Arno at its far end through a Doric screen that articulates the space without blocking it, that architectural historians treat it as the first regularized streetscape of Europe.
The building is an artwork itself, of Renaissance architecture and decoration, which walls and ceilings are painted and decorated by frescoes, its presents either magnificent views of Florence from its wide windows.
2014 Uffizi Gallery, Florence: Testa di Medusa #2
This is the second version of Medusa painted by Caravaggio. This “Head of Medusa” executed by Caravaggio, in 1598, was commissioned as a cerimonial shield by Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, the Medici family’s agent in Rome.
Medusa was a gorgon with a mane of serpents for hair. She was so repulsive, that whoever looked at her, supposedly turned to stone. Perseus, the Greek hero, was given a shield by the goddess Athena, so that he could avoid looking at her, as he decapitated or beheaded her.
Medusa in Caravaggio’s painting is portrayed at the moment of self-recognition. Realizing that her head and body were no longer one, and that she was still conscious, Caravaggio depicts the horror in her eyes. Caravaggio displays huge technical achievements in this work by making a convex surface look concave and Medusa’s head appear to project outward.
Oil on canvas mounted on wood
Dimensions: 24 in × 22 in, 60 cm × 55 cm
The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi), is one of the main museums in Florence, and among the oldest and most famous art museums of Europe.
The building of Uffizi was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi, "offices". The construction was later continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and completed in 1581. The cortile (internal courtyard) is so long and narrow, and open to the Arno at its far end through a Doric screen that articulates the space without blocking it, that architectural historians treat it as the first regularized streetscape of Europe.
The building is an artwork itself, of Renaissance architecture and decoration, which walls and ceilings are painted and decorated by frescoes, its presents either magnificent views of Florence from its wide windows.