Baroque/Renaissance Blog

 

                                                                                    

                                                                  The Head of Medusa- Peter Paul Rubens

History: The Head of Medusa, 1617-1618 by Peter Paul Rubens. Her serpentine locks writhing hideously, lies on a stony ledge in a landscape. Some of the intertwined snakes bite one another and others give birth, while drops of Medusa's blood are transformed into still other tiny vipers. The iconic Medusa was painted by the prolific master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in 1597.  He painted two versions of the work - the first one in 1596, known as Murtula, belongs to a private collector, while the second painting known as just Medusa made in 1597, slightly bigger than the first, is held in the Florentine Uffizi Museum.

Tone: Through his manipulation of the human form, Rubens was able to create captivating paintings that were filled with vigor and action. As most of his paintings featured groups of individuals, Rubens was able to capture the essence of movement through portraying twisting figures.

Color: The colors in this painting are dark, making the scenery look more serious, and a little depressing. Her serpentine locks writhing hideously, lies on a stony ledge in a landscape. Medusa's horrible face is wide-eyed and of a deathly pallor with shadows. The ground rises steeply at the back right and in the left distance is a landscape prospect. I believe that the dark colors also make the scene appear more realistic.

Reflection: The Head of Medusa, which he created between 1617 and 1618. Depicting the decapitated head of Medusa with her serpentine locks monstrously writhing around on a stone ledge, Rubens captured the wide-eyed horror and deathly pallor of her face in death.