Sebastiano Ricci's Perseus Confronting Medusa

Chelsea Dawson

Jennifer A. Fraley

HUM 120-64H1

6 March 2017

Perseus Confronting Phineus with the Head of Medusa Sebastiano Ricci’s artwork titled Perseus Confronting Phineus with the Head of Medusa is an oil on canvas painted around the year of 1705. Ricci depicted the iconic scene where Perseus killed Medusa, a Gordon with snake hair. Her atrocious appearance is known to turn men to stone. This particular painting shows the scene at Perseus’s wedding. The wedding was stopped by a group led by Phineus. After a battle, Perseus won by capturing the head of Medusa. He then warned his allies to turn away, not looking the head of Medusa in the eyes, turning the opposing side into stone (Sebastiano). To truly depict the energy and drama of the piece,

Giordano’s work, Perseus turning Phineas and his Followers to Stone, is an oil on canvas created in the early 1680’s. Some of the upfront adaptations include: the background, key colors, and direction. First of all, the background of Ricci’s painting shows a room with statues of what looks like women. Whereas, in Giordano’s, the background appears to be in an outside setting. Secondly, the key colors in Ricci’s painting are dark, warm “redish-orange” colors. Whereas, the key colors the eye directs to are darker blues and yellows. Lastly, the direction of the painting is different in both. In Ricci’s, the head of Medusa is directed towards the right. In Giordano’s, the direction of Medusa’s head is pointing towards the left. When looking into the background information of the original painting, the main adaption is the mention of the love triangle in Giordano’s piece. Giordano talks about how the lady, Andromeda, was originally engaged to Phineus, but was stolen by Perseus because he saved her from a sea monster (Giordano, 1680s). Therefore, Phineus showed up to the wedding with an “army” to attack Perseus. The painting by Ricci mentions the wedding scene, but not the events leading up to

The photo also looked one sided before, as if Phineus was the bad guy. Though, in reality, Perseus is the bad guy because he was the one that stole Andromeda in the first place. In conclusion, mythology has played such an influential role in art because the epic tales over hundreds of years, still to this day, give us many life lessons. Not only are these tales still relevant today, but they will continue to be important in the years to come. Myths help people learn from past mistakes, just like history. Mythology offers many morals and themes that can apply to anyone no matter the current life situation. Myths also show heroes, underdogs, and villains realistically even if the people aren’t particularly