Baroque Renaissance Analysis

I have always been a big fan of Greek Mythology and everything to do with it. For this assignment, I found Medusa done by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. I truly love this piece; the blood, the hair of snakes, and her horrified expression. The story of Medusa is very well-known amongst many people; Medusa was a Gorgon who had a full head of snakes and could turn anyone to stone (with eye contact). Perseus was the one who found out he could destroy her by using his shield to see her through the reflection. 



Medusa was supposed to be "young and beautiful," and that is clearly depicted in this piece; it can be seen from the lack of wrinkles, darkness of her eyebrows, and facial features of what was considered beautiful during this time (1595). The small details in each snake is amazing; they have darker contrast and each snake has its own small spots/details. Because of the darker contrast, it helps in making this painting appear as though it is "popping" out. This piece is also a great example of realism, it is almost as if Medusa was real and she posed for this. The space around the head has a green gradient that matches very well with the snakes on her head. This piece is very dark; dark colors, dark contrast, partly dark meaning.

Caravaggio painted this piece as a commemoration shield. For Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte (commissioned), to be given to Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I de' Medici (Medici collection).

Comments

  1. Laurel FlamingMarch 3, 2022 at 10:32 PM

    Wow! I loved your analysis of the contrast of the painting and think it's very unique that you were able to find such an interesting piece coming from this era. However, I wanted to know more about this work's connection to the era, so I did some research and found, this is actually Caravaggio's interpretation of Medusa, and he decided to paint a male youth in place of the woman that is traditional. He also had painted this as a gift, which I found interesting, and wonder if there may have been any animosity towards that relationship.

    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/25/art

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