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Cellini, 'Perseus with the Head of Medusa', 1545-1554

 


My eye is immediately drawn to the head of Medusa. At first glance it looks gruesome, as though Cellini has captured the moment just after the head has been decapitated, and it oozes blood and bodily matter. However the viewer then notices the similarity between that and Medusa's hair. Maybe it is just her hair after all. Cellini has cleverly enticed the viewer in here, to take a closer look and therefore involved them in the sculpture as a whole. Once they do come closer, they begin to notice other things such as the similarity between Perseus' hair and Medusa's snakes. Hero and monster are not so separate. Even the features of their faces are very similar. Perhaps Cellini wants to suggest that evil can often wear the mask of good. Or he could even be implying that everyone has some evil within them, even the hero Perseus. 


One of the good things about sculpture is that the viewer is able to walk around it, and fully immerse themselves in the piece. Cellini has used this to his advantage. The pedestal on which Perseus stands is not actually a pedestal at all, but it is Medusa's body, tangled up like a snake at his feet. This highlights the immediacy of the event that Cellini has decided to depict, showing to the viewer that this is the second right after Medusa has been beheaded, and her body has fallen limply below the victor. The way Medusa's body is curled up around Perseus' feet can only really be appreciated when one walks round the base of the sculpture, because then you realise just how oddly and unnaturally her limbs are positioned. Cellini clearly wants to get the point across that Medusa is an unnatural and evil being, and belongs in the dust, physically below the goodness that emanates from Perseus' victorious, contrapposto stance.

Cellini has designed Perseus to be a perfect man, like the Greek concept of kouros, physically dominant with a very muscular frame shown by Cellini's detailed sculpture of the human anatomy. The 'S' shape created by the body amplifies the sense of movement and links back to the idea of this being immediately after the event, as Perseus lifts the head up in triumph. The sculpture is also made out of bronze and is currently outside in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, which means it catches in the natural light. Again, this allows the piece to flow and come alive as a whole, making it all the more realistic. The viewer gets the feeling that Perseus could step down from the body of Medusa at any moment, and parade round the square with the head still held high. Instead, he stands perhaps with quiet contemplation on his face, but he stands definitely in victory. 

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