of the antique image, and extended it, wrapping it around to create the entire back
of his work. In so doing Gemito created a new type of sculpture that is neither a
decorative object (such as a bowl or tazza) with sculptural embellishment nor a
traditional flat medallion with decoration equally "weighted" to both sides. Gemito's
Medusa falls into a category of its own: it is relief-like but finished on both sides,
somewhere between a medallion and a fully sculpted object with multiple views.
Formed as an inverted shield, it lies uncomfortably on its snakeskin back, like a
talisman from the past with its edges curled by time.
Gemito's attraction to the subject of Medusa may have sprung in part from the
sinuous graphic potential inherent in the subject. The sensual aspect of Gemito's style
is often closely linked to his use of undulating line to define form, and he seems to
have had a predilection for long-haired subjects that would allow him to exploit his
graphic facility. But it is also possible to see this gorgeous severed head with snakes as
a symbol of the artist's lifelong preoccupation with revealing the beautiful in the ugly.
According to myth, the once-beautiful Medusa was transformed by Athena into a
terrible monster with snakes instead of hair and with eyes that were able to turn men
into stone. She was decapitated by Perseus, and her severed head was believed to ward
off evil. Executed just as the artist was coming out of his self-imposed seclusion, the
Medusas traditional apotropaic function would not have been lost on Gemito as he
sought to re-enter the world. PF
EUROPEAN SCULPTURE 127