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Perseus with the Head of Medusa is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in 1545. The sculpture stands upon on a square base with bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece.〔Shearman, “Art or Politics,”.〕 It is located in the Loggia dei Lanzi of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. The second Florentine duke, 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 1554, Michelangelo’s David, Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes were already erected in the piazza.〔Shearman, p. 28.〕 The subject matter of the work is the mythological story of Perseus beheading Medusa, a hideous woman-faced Gorgon whose hair was turned to snakes and anyone that 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 snakey head in his raised hand. The body of Medusa spews blood from her severed neck. The bronze sculpture and Medusa’s head turns men to stone and is appropriately surrounded by three huge marble statues of men: Hercules, David and later Neptune.〔Shearman, p. 28.〕 Cellini breathed new life into the piazza visitor through his new use of bronze in Perseus and the head of Medusa and the motifs he used to respond to the previous sculpture in the piazza. If one examines the sculpture from the back, you can see the self-image of the sculptor Cellini on the backside of Perseus' helmet. The sculpture is thought to be the first statue since the classical age where the base included a figurative sculpture forming an integral part of the work. ==Background== Cellini was the first to integrate narrative relief into the sculpture of the piazza.〔Weil-Garris, “On Pedestals,” p. 411.〕 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 The Rape of the Sabine.〔Weil-Garris, p. 413.〕 Perseus added to the cast of Olympian gods protecting the Medici.〔Weil-Garris, p. 409.〕 Weil-Garris also focuses on the pedestal beneath the sculpture in the round. However, it 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.〔Weil-Garris, p. 411.〕 The Medici still dominated the theme of the pedestal as Perseus in the pedestal acts as an allegory to Duke Francesco Medici.〔Mandel, “Perseus and the Medici,” 175.〕 The politics of the Medici and Florence dominate the Piazza della Signoria, specifically referencing the first three Florentine dukes. Duke Alessandro I was the first Florentine duke and Hercules and Cacus was revealed during his time and met with terrible reception by the public in 1534.〔Mandel, p. 168.〕 The next sculpture to be revealed was Cellini’s Perseus and Cosimo I was very cautious about the public’s reaction to the piece.〔Mandel, p. 168.〕 Thankfully, the public received the sculpture well as Cosimo watched the reception from a window in the Palazzo Vecchio.〔Weil-Garris, “On Pedestals,” p. 411.〕 The third duke is directly related to the sculpture’s relief panel on the base as the Perseus can be seen as an allegory to Duke Francesco and Andromeda as his Habsburg bride, Giovanna.〔Mandel, “Perseus and the Medici,” p. 175.〕 Similarly, Andromeda acts as an allegory to Florence, while Perseus is the collective Medici swooping down to save Florence.〔Mandel, p. 175.〕 Cellini chose to represent the sad side of the story of Andromeda; however he drew focus to the Medici as Perseus saving the somber Andromeda.〔Burne-Jones, “‘Andromeda’,” 211.〕 Every sculpture within the piazza responds politically or artistically to each other and the Medici. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Perseus with the Head of Medusa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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