Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART: Bust of Medusa
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Collection:
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ADJUNCT MODULE A: ITALIAN ART
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Preferred Title:
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Bust of Medusa
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Image View:
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Overall view from the right side
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Creator:
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Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian sculptor, 1598-1680)
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Location:
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repository: Musei Capitolini (Rome, Lazio, Italy) inv. MC1166
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Location Note:
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Palazzo dei Conservatori; Hall of the Geese
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GPS:
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+41.893059+12.482736
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Date:
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ca. 1644-1648 (creation)
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Cultural Context:
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Italian
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Style Period:
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Baroque
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Work Type 1:
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sculpture (visual work)
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Classification:
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sculpture
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Material:
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white marble; pedestal of portoro marble
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Technique:
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carving (processes)
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Measurements:
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50 cm (height) x 41 cm (width) x 38 cm (depth, without pedestal)
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Description:
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The small spool-shaped (height 18 cm, diameter 20 cm) pedestal in portoro marble is original; it is displayed on a presentation base with inscription from 1731, when the bust was donated by Marquis Francesco Bichi. It was probably created in the first years of the papacy of Innocent X Pamphilj, between 1644 and 1648, when Bernini was sent away from the papal court. The Bust of Medusa seems to fall into the category of sculptures carried out "for his study and pleasure." Medusa sees herself in an imaginary mirror and is caught in the moment when she realizes the trick played on her, and before our eyes, she turns to stone. Bernini intended his Medusa to be a refined Baroque metaphor for sculpture and the virtue of the sculptor, who has the power to "petrify" those who admire his extraordinary ability to use a chisel. (Source: Capitoline Museums [website]; http://en.museicapitolini.org/)
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Collection:
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Adjunct Module A: Italian Art
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Identifier:
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7A1-BG-CM-MB-A08
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Rights:
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© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
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