Perseus with the Head of Medusa, Florence, Italy

by Al Bourassa

Title

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, Florence, Italy

Artist

Al Bourassa

Medium

Photograph - Photographic Artworks

Description

Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period 1545-1554. The sculpture stands upon a square base with bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece. It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The second Florentine duke, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, commissioned the work with specific political connections to the other sculptural works in the piazza. When the piece was revealed to the public on 27 April 1554, Michelangelo’s David, Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes were already erected in the piazza.
The subject matter of the work is the mythological story of Perseus beheading Medusa, a hideous woman-faced Gorgon whose hair was turned to snakes and anyone that looked at her was turned to stone. Perseus stands naked except for a sash and winged sandals, triumphant on top of the body of Medusa with her snakey head in his raised hand. The body of Medusa spews blood from her severed neck. The bronze sculpture is appropriately surrounded by three huge marble statues of men: Hercules, David, and later Neptune. Cellini breathed new life into the piazza through his new use of bronze in Perseus and the head of Medusa and the motifs he used to respond to the previous sculptures in the piazza. If one examines the sculpture from the back, you can see the self-image of the sculptor Cellini on the backside of Perseus' helmet.
This digitally altered artwork is derived from a photograph taken March 10, 2009 in Florence, Italy during a tour of Western Europe.
Final processing done with Smart Photo Editor.
NOTE that the Fine Art America watermark will NOT appear on any purchased product.
© All work is copyright protected and may not be used in any way without purchase.
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March 4th, 2018

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