Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period –. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece.[1] It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The second Florentine duke, Cosimo I de' Medici, commissioned the work with specific political connections to the other sculptural works in the piazza. When the piece was revealed to the public on 27 April , Michelangelo's David, Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus, and Donatello's Judith and Holofernes were already installed in the piazza.[2]
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The subject matter of the work is the mythological story of Perseus beheading Medusa, a hideous woman-faced Gorgon whose hair had been turned to snakes; anyone who looked at her was turned to stone. Perseus stands naked except for a sash and winged sandals, triumphant on top of the body of Medusa with her head, crowned with writhing snakes, in his raised hand. Blood spews from Medusa's severed neck. The bronze sculpture, in which Medusa's head turns men to stone, is appropriately surrounded by three huge marble statues of men: Hercules, David, and later Neptune.[2] Cellini's use of bronze in Perseus and the head of Medusa, and the motifs he used to respond to the previous sculpture in the piazza, were highly innovative. Examining the sculpture from the back, one can see a self-portrait of the sculptor Cellini on the back of Perseus' helmet.
Cellini was the first to integrate narrative relief into the sculpture of the piazza.[4] As the Perseus was installed in the Loggia, it dominated the dimensions of later pedestals of other sculptural works within the Loggia, like Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.[5] Perseus added to the cast of Olympian gods protecting the Medici.[6] Weil-Garris also focuses on the pedestal beneath the sculpture in the round. However, the present pedestal may not have been Cellini's original intent, as the relief was still being worked on and installed when the bronze sculpture above had already been revealed.[7] The Medici still dominated the theme of the pedestal as Perseus in the pedestal is an allegory for Duke Francesco Medici.[8]
The politics of the Medici and Florence dominate the Piazza della Signoria, specifically making reference to the first three Florentine dukes. Duke Alessandro I was the first Florentine duke, and Hercules and Cacus was revealed during his time, meeting with a terrible reception by the public in .[9] The next sculpture to be revealed was Cellini's Perseus and Cosimo I was very cautious about the public's reaction to the piece.[9] Fortunately, the public received the sculpture well, as Cosimo watched the reception from a window in the Palazzo Vecchio.[4] The third duke is directly related to the sculpture's relief panel on the base as the Perseus can be seen as a symbol for Duke Francesco and Andromeda as his Habsburg bride, Giovanna.[10] Similarly, Andromeda acts as an allegory for Florence, while Perseus is the collective Medici swooping down to save the city.[11] Cellini chose to represent the sad side of the story of Andromeda; however, he created a focus on the Medici, like Perseus, saving the unsmiling Andromeda.[12] Every sculpture in the piazza can be seen as politically or artistically related to one another and to the Medici.
At the time the sculpture was created, bronze had not been used in almost half a century for a monumental work of art. Cellini made the conscious decision to work in this medium because by pouring molten metal into his cast, he was vivifying the sculpture with life-giving blood.[13] The most difficult part would be completing the entire cast all at once. Donatello's Judith and Holofernes was already placed in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the westernmost arch.[14] Judith had been cast in bronze, but in several sections joined together.[15] Cellini was competing against monumental works of marble sculpture like Michelangelo's David and wanted to make a statement for himself and his patron, Cosimo I.
Michael Cole specifically draws attention to the process of casting the Perseus. Citing Cellini's Vita, Cole notes how Cellini's assistants let the metal clot, and had Cellini not been present the work would have been destroyed.[16] Cole then asserts that Cellini goes beyond reviving the work but raised the dead, in which he means that Cellini's salvation was remelting the bronze.[17] Cellini also invokes Christ and by doing so he breathes life into the sculpture.[18] Casting the Perseus was more than meeting the demand of Cosimo I; Cellini was proving himself to Florence in a newly refurbished medium.
Perseus was one of Cellini's crowning works, completed with two different ideas in mind. He wanted to respond to the sculpture already placed within the piazza, which he did with the subject matter of Medusa reducing men to stone. Secondly, the Medici were represented by Perseus, both in the round sculpture and the relief below. Moreover, in that respect, Cellini also made a statement for himself in the actual casting of Perseus. Cellini breathed life into his new sculpture through his use of bronze and he asserted Medici control over the Florentine people through the Perseus motif.
A bronze cast of the sculpture was made in the early 19th Century and installed at Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire, England around , where it is now a Grade II* listed structure.[19][20]
Standing in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the famous Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, ‘Perseus with the Head of Medusa’ is one of sculptor Benvenuto Cellini’s most famous works. It depicts the dark and foreboding bronze of the Greek hero Perseus holding up the severed and bloody head of the gorgon Medusa, which gazes at the other statues around it as if she has turned them to stone.
Commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de Medici and unveiled in , it is one of the most significant examples of Italian Mannerist sculpture in existence and is rich in symbolism. However, since it is located near other Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s David, Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes, it is often overlooked.
Nonetheless, it is still recognised by many as a masterpiece. Charlie Chaplin once remarked, “one night, with the square all lit up, I was drawn to the David by Michelangelo. But as soon as I saw Perseus, everything else faded away. I was charmed by the extraordinary balance in his magnificent proportions.”
Here’s the history of Cellini’s masterpiece.
Benvenuto Cellini, who sculpted Perseus with the Head of Medusa, boasts a reputation as a troubled genius. He had many brushes with the law in his lifetime and has been variously described as vain and wild.
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Born in Florence in , Cellini was banished aged 16 for taking part in an affray (public fighting). In , he was accused by a woman of having committed sodomy with her son. He subsequently fled to Venice. In total, he was accused of sodomy once with a woman and at least three times with men during his lifetime, and was once sentenced to pay 12 staia of flour.
He also confesses to three murders in The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, stating that he stabbed his brother’s murderer to death, killed a rival goldsmith and shot an innkeeper dead.
His life was as notable as his sculptures: one critic wrote, “other goldsmiths have done finer work, but Benvenuto Cellini is the author of the most delightful autobiography ever written.”
Benvenuto Cellini sculpted Perseus with the Head of Medusa between and . It was commissioned by the Duke of Florence Cosimo I, who was a significant patron and advocate for the arts, learning and philosophy.
The statue was placed in the city’s central Piazza della Signoria, under the Loggia dei Lanzi, which was and continues to be a centre of political focus in the city. The location was and still is home to other statues, all politically or artistically related to each other and the Medici.
The beheaded Medusa underneath Perseus’ feet represents the Republic that the Medici faction overthrew in under Cosimo, while the snakes coming out of the gorgon’s body symbolise the disagreements in the city which threatened democracy.
Most symbolic is Perseus himself, who, a domineering figure, celebrates the control of the Medici over the Florentine people entirely.
The sculpture’s relief panel also pays tribute to other Medici family members. Perseus on the relief represents Duke Francesco while Andromeda represents his Hapsburg wife, Giovanna. Similarly, Andromeda is an allegory for Florence, while Perseus represents the Medici dynasty swooping down to save the city.
Moreover, Perseus with the Head of Medusa is surrounded by three huge marble statues of Hercules, David and later Neptune. Cellini breathes further life into his creation by suggesting that his mighty Medusa turned the other sculptors’ creations to stone. Finally, as a nod to the creator, Cellini depicts himself in a self-portrait on the back of Perseus’ helmet.
At the time Cellini’s sculpture was created, bronze had not been used for a monumental work of art for almost half a century. Cellini was keen to be regarded as highly as other famous Renaissance sculptors such as Michelangelo, so decided to complete the entire cast all at once, rather than in separate parts.
The story goes that as the bronze was being cast in Cellini’s workshop, the incapacitated sculptor lay dying on his sickbed. A storm broke at night, and his assistants failed to notice that the metal was beginning to clot as it cooled. Cellini jumped from his bed and ordered that everything be thrown into the fire to raise the heat. It worked, and the sculpture was saved.
Cellini likened this revival to raising the dead, both because he saved a great work of art but also because he himself was raised from his deathbed.
Once the sculpture was cooled, a long polishing process which started in was required. It was finally completed in and then presented in the square to great acclaim.
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