Medusa (Rubens)
| Medusa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Peter Paul Rubens |
| Completion date | c. 1618 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 68.5 cm × 118 cm (27.0 in × 46 in) |
Medusa is a c.1618 painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, showing the severed head of Medusa. The snakes in the painting have been attributed to Frans Snyders.[1] Frans Snyders also helped Peter Paul Rubens with his work Prometheus Bound, where he painted the eagle portrayed in it.[2] It is in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Another version is held in Moravian Gallery in Brno.[3][4] Rubens was not originally attributed to the painting.[5] Medusa was a popular iconographic symbol at the time due to the interest in Greek mythology by numerous Baroque artists such as Rubens and Caravaggio. The use of Medusa as a symbol has evolved over the course of centuries and has various interpretations of the iconographic meaning, with Rubens' painting based off an interpretation of the Greek mythological story of Medusa.
History
Creation
Medusa, or sometimes referred to as The Head of Medusa, was created c.1618 using oil on canvas and is 68.5 x 118cm.[6] Rubens enlisted the help of Frans Snyders who worked with him multiple times. Snyders was a nature artist and worked with Rubens to paint animals in his pieces, such as the snakes in Medusa.[6] The snakes portrayed are nonvenomous European grass snakes, except for the two snakes on the right side of her head which are vipers.[6] Vipers are a medieval symbol of ungratefulness.[6] In Greek mythology, Medusa is portrayed as having venomous snakes for hair.[7] The vipers are shown mating with the female having the male's head in her mouth. Towards the middle of the painting, an amphisbaena is shown. An amphisbaena is a snake-like creature that has two heads, one on each end of its body, and is noted in classical mythology.[8] In Greek mythology, amphisbaenas are made from the blood of Medusa and feed on decaying bodies.[6] Medusa is shown to have just been slain and is laying down in a pool of blood with the snakes and reptiles surrounding her.
Attribution
Originally, Medusa was put in the Brno museum on December 26, 1818 as Ein Oehlgemälde das Medusenhaupt vorstellend.[9] This roughly translates into "An oil painting depicting the head of Medusa." Rubens was not attributed to this painting during this time as there was no artist attribution when it first entered the museum.[9] Count Joseph von Nimptsch I originally gave the work to the museum and his seal of ownership is on the back of the painting.[9] It is unknown to where he originally obtained the painting from, but it is thought, due to indirect evidence and assumption, that it originally belonged to his second wife.[9] Count Nimptsch donated the artwork a year after his wife died, which has been used as circumstantial evidence that she was the original owner.[9] Brno curator Ernst Rincolini originally attributed this painting to Rubens' student Abraham van Diepenbeeck, with the animals painted by Frans Snyders.[9] Rubens was not mentioned as being the original painter until 1899 and was officially attributed to the painting in the 1940s due to restorative work where it was confirmed that Rubens created Medusa alongside the help of Frans Snyders.[9] The painting that resides in the Bruno museum today is thought to be a copy of the original that is housed in Vienna.[9]
References
- ^ Suda, S. (2019). Early Rubens. Prestel.
- ^ "Prometheus Bound". philamuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Brněnská Hlava Medusy je originálním dílem Rubense, potvrdil výzkum". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ "TZ: Unikátní srovnání – brněnská i vídeňská Hlava Medusy od Petra Pavla Rubense jsou vystaveny společně - Artalk.cz". Artalk.cz (in Czech). 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ Suda, S. (2019). Early Rubens. Prestel.
- ^ a b c d e Harris JC. The Head of Medusa: Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(6):614–615. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.2735
- ^ Glennon, Authors: Madeleine. "Medusa in Ancient Greek Art | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ "Definition of AMPHISBAENA". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Suda, S. (2019). Early Rubens. Prestel.
