Madusa

I took this image of a women which was spray painted on a wall in Bradford. The image is of a women who looks like Medusa. Medusa was once very beautiful and lived far in the north were the sun didn't visit. Being very curious, she wanted to see the sun, and asked the Goddess Athena for permission to visit the south. Athena refused to allow her to visit. Then Medusa got angry and dared to say that Athena hadn't given her permission because she was jealous of her beauty. that was it, Athena was angered and punished her by turning her hair into snakes and cursing her by making her so ugly that who ever looks at her eyes would turn into stone, ironic as it was painted on a wall.


Caravaggio painted two versions of Medusa, the first in 1596 and the other was painted around 1597, The first version also known as Murtula, by the name of the poet who wrote about it is signed Michel A F, (Michel Angelo Fecit) and is in private hands whilst the second version, slightly bigger is not signed.

In Greek mythology, Perseus used the severed snake-haired head of the Gorgon Medusa as a shield with which to turn his enemies to stone. By the 16th century Medusa was said to symbolize the triumph of reason over the senses.