Art Print "Gorgoneion"
The Gorgon Medusa is one of the most iconic figures of Greek mythology and a popular subject in the arts of many many centuries. As one of the Gorgons – children of the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto – Medusa had hair of living venomous snakes and the ability to turn her gazers into stone. While nowadays she is best known as a very anthropomorphic creature that incorporates the idea of a beautiful, yet deadly woman, the first depictions of her in archaic Greece, that date back to the 8th century BC, show her as a monstrous being with long wild boar tusks in an awfully big mouth and with a frightening glance. The Gorgoneion, which is the ancient term for the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa, was often found placed on buildings or precious objects where it was used as “Apotropaion” that was able to protect the objects/buildings and their owners with its deadly glance. Amongst the owners of these kinds of Apotropaions were the Gods Athene and Zeus, who wore a Gorgoneion to protect them from any harm. This illustration of the Gorgoneion is inspired by the earliest Greek and Etruscan depictions. The border as well as the corner ornaments are borrowed from pottery of the geometric period while the swords, that refer to Perseus, who was the one to decapitate the Gorgon, have the typical shape of the short swords used in ancient Greece.
ca. 30 x 30 cm. Printed on Hahnemühle textured FineArt archival paper (210 gsm). Hand signed.
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