The Baroque Era

The Head of Medusa

In honor of Halloween, I chose to do my assignment on The Head of Medusa by Caravaggio. Caravaggio was born in Milan, but this painting was created in Uffizi, Florence. Medusa Is well-known in Greek Mythology, on her head there were snakes, and she could turn anybody into stone through eye contact, she was ultimately decapitated by Perseus. Caravaggio was an artist of the late 1500s/early 1600s, The Head of Medusa was one of his most popular art pieces. Caravaggio was also one of the first artists who contributed to the baroque art movement. Baroque art can be described as art that clearly expresses human emotions by focusing primarily on expressions. “The Head of Medusa executed by Caravaggio, in 1598, was commissioned as a ceremonial shield by Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, the Medici family agent in Rome, after seeing, in the painter's studio, the first version - The Medusa painting. The purpose of this commission was to symbolize the Grand Duke of Tuscany's courage in defeating his enemies. For its subject matter, Caravaggio drew on the Greek myth of Medusa, a woman with snakes for hair who turned people to stone by looking at them.” This art piece relates to the influence of royalty because Caravaggio was commissioned to paint this.

Appearance

This art piece appears to be disconcerting at first glance due to all the gruesome qualities. I feel like what makes this painting so powerful is the facial expression. During the Baroque period, artists began to

play with facial expressions to display more emotion through their paintings. As you can see in the painting, he replaced Medusa’s face with his face. He also portrayed her very last moments when she got

her head cut off which is why there is blood spraying from his neck. His furrowed eyebrows and big eyes portray the emotion of horror/surprise. He also has his mouth open which makes it look like he is screaming. “He heightens this combination of life and death through Medusa's

intense expression. “ This in my opinion is what makes this art piece so cool.


Color

 All the colors in the piece are dark. The black snakes that he has for hair emit a dark connotation. The dark green background also intensifies the horror of the painting. The red blood oozing from his neck pops out despite all the dark colors.


Texture

The texture of this art piece seems to be smooth however, it has a 3-dimensional effect. The snakes appear to be coming right out of the painting. This allows the art to make a statement.


Conclusion

In conclusion, this art piece is one of Caravaggio’s most famous paintings, it had a lot of influence on others. The manner of his art led to a whole era of new and improved art. Although this art piece was

incredibly famous, I would most likely not own an art piece like this. I would not want an art piece like this because it seems a bit disconcerting to have in my home.


Citations


"Medusa, 1597 By Caravaggio". Caravaggio.Org, 2022, https://www.caravaggio.org/medusa.jsp.


https://favourite-paintings.blogspot.com/2011/06/michelangelo-merisi-caravaggio-head-of.html 

Comments

  1. Lee CrabtreeOctober 16, 2022 at 10:05 PM

    Even though it's only a head, there is a lot of detail here, the expression is impressive and shocking! Also, the shading is very dynamic which adds to the dramatic expression of Medusa. I think its quite peculiar that it was painted on a circular canvas, but I guess it makes sense as it is meant to be a ceremonial shield. I also noticed the background is green, which can represent greed or envy. I wonder if that was purposeful, because it seems like it was commissioned to gloat the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

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  2. April K.October 17, 2022 at 8:17 PM

    This is certainly one of Caravaggio's more gruesome pieces. I love how he was able to use shadowing, tone, and contrast to give us the illusion of a three-dimensional head. I did not know that this was a self-portrait of sorts, but adds to the intrigue! Do we know who commissioned this and why?

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  3. Johnna NOctober 17, 2022 at 11:43 PM

    Wow! This is such an incredible piece, there is so much emotion within this painting. The different dark shades in the snakes make room for so much detail, it's crazy that he was able to make this so life-like. This painting is definitely different which makes it one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alana JonesOctober 19, 2022 at 10:49 PM

    Wow! This is a beautiful Piece! Medusa has always been such an interesting person to me. And it is such a cool fact that the artist was commissioned to create this. I love your in depth explanation of her facial expression and I love the rich green background to highlight the shadows of the snakes on her head.

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