Baroque: Head of Medusa
I will be talking about and highlighting some of the aspects of this painting today. This is “Head of Medusa” by Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders; made around 1617-18. I chose this painting because it shows the fear that the church was trying to bestow upon the spectators in an attempt to reform the people back into the church.
About the Artist
Flemish artist and diplomat, he was born in Siegen in 1577. He was one of the most influential artists
in the Flemish Baroque Era, and one of the voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Rubens
painted mainly historical, religious, mythological, and hunting paintings.
His career started when he was around 18 years old, he traveled to Italy in 1600 and settled in the
court of Duke Vicenzo I Gonzaga. Several years later he traveled to Rome with the full financial
assistance of the Duke to study Greek art and architecture. Later in his life, he moved back to his
hometown and became a well-established artist; opening his studio in Antwerp and eventually
dying there in 1640 from heart failure. In 1621 Rubens was commission by the Queen Mother
of France Marie de’ Medici to do 2 paintings of herself and her late husband Henry IV.
Rubens was a well know artist and eventually make his work readily available to regular folk,
by the means of the printing press. He made woodcut prints and was one of the first artists to
incorporate a numeral mark on his painting to show authenticity (like copyright now).
paintings. Snyders was born in Antwerp in 1579. He was one of Rubens's favorite artists to collaborate
with hanse their style was very similar; so similar that art historians have a hard time telling their work
apart. They both collaborated in decorating Torre de la Parada, Royal Alcazar of Madrid, and Royal
Buen Retiro Palace. After Rubens's death, Snyders was in charge of appraising his work to be sold.
History of the Subject
The subject that we are looking at here is Medusa. Medusa is as we all know a Gorgon aka Monster
from Greek Mythology. She was the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto and was 1 of the 3 Gorgons.
Ceto was the goddess of the water and was known as a cruel goddess she could control all the dangerous
creatures of the sea. Phorcys was a sea god with a half-fish body (merman) crab claws and scales all
over his body.
Ceto and Phorcys were known to create dangerous horrible monsters, however, Medusa was actually
normal and beautiful and human. She was so beautiful that Poseidon (God of the Sea) seduced her in the
temple of Athena and impregnated her. Athena was so furious that she turned her into what we now
know Medusa as. A monster.
Side story… in an attempt to get rid of Perseus, the King of Seriphos Polydectes ordered him to kill
Medusa. With the help of Athena and Hermes, Perseus succeeds in killing her while she slept. I feel like
Rubens captured that last terror very well here. However remember Medusa was pregnant, and her
lifeless body gave birth to 2 children Chrysaor and Pegasus.
While Perseus transported her head back to the king however her blood seeped through the bag he was
carrying her in and live snakes were born from it. Which is depicted in this painting beautifully.
Baroque Elements
Baroque art is the art of depicting a moment in time, and my favorite part about this painting is that you
see just that. The moment that medusa wakes from her sleep to a sword decapitating her. You see the
drama that Rubens place on her face, that moment stuck in time, her fear and acknowledgment of what's
about to happen. You see all the beautiful little details like his eyes rolled down, her pale skin as the
remaining blood in her head seeps out of her. Her lips turned black from the lack of oxygen you see the
indentation of her face and the muscles cringing her fear forever stuck. The detail that Rubens did to
portray her fear, the shadow that he added to give the head the realism of the creature.
We move on to look at Snyders's work; the snakes. Okay, I hate snakes but can we look at the details of Snyders's work. It is absolutely gorgeous, My main focus as a painter is animals and I absolutely love his hand on this. The intricate details of the scales and the appearance he gives them as they slither away, the shadows and lights he adds to give them a third-dimensional view. You can see the baby snakes being born out of the blood that is seeping out and other snakes coming out of her hair follicles. If we look closely we can see all the snakes are complete, and they are all doing their own thing.
Conclusion
I love the detail and the story that this painting and subject have, this was made to show the spectator
fear and it transmits very clearly. I would love to see it in person someday, however, I wouldn’t like to
own a copy because it is very macabre, and let's admit it kinda gross. But none the less a beautiful
depiction of a moment stuck in time.
Works Cited
- Eelco Kappe, “Head of Medusa by Peter Paul Rubens”, Tripimprover.com, March 2020.
- “The Real Story of the Snake-Haired Gorgon”, Greekmythology.com, Feb. 2021.
- “Peter Paul Rubens”. Wikipedia.org, Feb.2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens
- “Frans Snyders”, Wikipedia.org, Feb. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Snyders
- “Ceto- Goddess of the Water”, Greekgodandgoddess.net, Oct.2019.
- “Phorcys” Wikipedia.org, July 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorcys
Magnolia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I really enjoyed the story of Medusa. I knew some of it but not all of it. Despite the morbid nature of this painting I would own it. I like how you described the moment of fear captured forever on her face as she was beheaded. I notice a hint of surprise too, in her eyebrows. I did not notice the baby snakes being born from the blood until I read your post. Great eye! I am interested about that lone lizard on the rock. Why is it there? A native inhabitant of the area witnessing this transformation. It is very curious to me.
Great post! Thanks.
I really like the way you formatted this, it has a very easy to read structure. I think it is pretty ironic that a painting of a Greed Goddess was used by the Catholic Church, but I guess they have done crazier things. My favorite Baroque era element is the picture like paintings that capture such a split second in time, like this one. I think it is really cool that Peter got to move and start his career at such a young age. Lastly, I have the same opinion on owning this peice, it is beautiful and an truly astonishing work of art, but not one that I would like to own personally.
ReplyDeleteMagnolia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your perspective on this collaborative painting by Rubens and Snyder. The use of tenebrism emphasizes the dramatic focus of Medusa's lifeless, yet horrified expression filled head. I agree that the snakes were beautifully detailed. According to the article written by Kappe, he states that based on the story of Medusa, "the snakes on her head are venomous. However, Snyders used the nonvenomous European grass snake as the model for the snakes in this painting" (Kappe). It is also said that there are two snakes fighting as a "mating ritual" on the right of the painting (Kappe). On the foreground of the painting you see a yellow snake with two heads. I found this to be very odd and intriguing. Upon further research I found out that "this snake represents the mythological amphisbaena, which is an ant-eating snake with two heads" (Kappe). I appreciate that you included Medusa's backstory. I feel it was needed to truly appreciate this dramatic scene. I would like to add that though the eyes are rolled back they also bulge, which adds to the fear Medusa must have felt. The use of shading and contouring adds emphasis on her lifeless head showing the sunken cheek bones. I love the details of the repetitive snakes surrounding Medusa's head. The snakes' colors i think were painted in complementary colors on purpose, so that it was easier to see. There are some that are green wrapped and intertwined with red and yellowish orange snakes. I think that was used to draw your attention to the snakes as well and differentiate between them.
Reference: https://www.tripimprover.com/blog/head-of-medusa-by-peter-paul-rubens
This was a really well planned out and executed blog. I have always been interested in Greek Mythology so this was a good read, I enjoyed it. I like how you went into the history of the subject and even branched off a bit to add more context. I feel like you hit it spot on at the breakdown of the Baroque Elements section, when you said “Baroque art is the art of depicting a moment in time, and my favorite part about this painting is that you
ReplyDeletesee just that.” This shows how complex and real something is even if the concept sounds simple.