Medusa (Bernini)

Medusa

Artist	Gianlorenzo Bernini
Year	c. 1630s
Type	Marble sculpture
Location	Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome

Medusa is a sculpture of the eponymous character from the classical myth. It was executed by the Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Its precise date of creation is unknown, but it is likely to have been executed in the 1630s. It was first documented in 1731 when presented to the museum of the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Rome.

Story

The portrait draws on the myth of Medusa, the snake haired woman whose gaze could turn onlookers to stone. Unlike other depictions of the Medusa, such as Benevenuto Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa, the Medusa is not portrayed as a vanquished figure, her head severed from her body but as a living monster. Bernini’s decision to create a marble sculpture may be some kind of visual pun on the myth - creating a stone version of a living creature that could turn men to stone.^[1]

Creation

Nothing is known about its creation, and parts of the sculpture’s execution undermine Bernini’s authorship of the sculpture, most notable the heavy, over-exaggerated eyebrows and the rough treatment of the snakes. Yet the sensual fleshy quality of the cheeks and lib, the polished precision of the face, the tormented face of the Medua and lively intelligence behind the literary concept and its unusual treatment point to the work of Bernini.^[2]

Restoration

Considerable technical analysis and restoration of the sculpture took place in 2006.^[3]

References

1. ^ Irving Lavin, Bernini’s Bust of the Medusa: An Awful Pun, La Medusa di Bernini, ed., Elena Bianca di Gioia, pps120-133
2. ^ Rudolf Wittkower, Bernini, the Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, 1997 (4th ed.)
3. ^ La Medusa di Bernini, ed., Elena Bianca di Gioia, 2006