Preview
Buy Print
Send
Share
Download
Similars
X-Ray
DiaporamaPerseus and the Gorgon (detail)
laurent-honoré marqueste (1848 – 1920)
Explore the neo-Baroque Beaux-Arts sculptures of Laurent-Honoré Marqueste (1848-1920). A Prix de Rome winner, discover his dramatic works & artistic legacy.
Museum of Fine Arts (Lyon, France)
Discover the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon's breathtaking collection of masterpieces from Ancient Egypt to Impressionism housed within a historic Benedictine abbey and explore this unparalleled journey through art history.
Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danaë, Princess of Argos, was entrusted with the mission of slaying Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters—wild creatures with a tangle of snakes for hair and a look that turned people to stone. To help him accomplish this perilous task, the gods gave him winged sandals and a shield, sword, and helmet of invisibility. Perseus went to the island where the Gorgon lived, surprised her in her sleep, and cut off her head.The sculptor, Laurent Marquestre, chose to illustrate the moment before Medusa’s death. Grim faced, the hero holds her firmly to the ground to stop her turning round, thereby avoiding her fatal gaze. In a vain attempt to retaliate, she howls with rage and terror. The twisting of her body goes right up into her hair of snakes, one of which has coiled itself around Perseus’ wrist.
About this artwork
- Title: Perseus and the Gorgon (detail)
- Artist: laurent-honoré marqueste
- Year: 1890
- Format: Portrait
- Copyright status: Public domain
- Where to see it: Museum of Fine Arts
- Color hue: Green Spectrum
- Perceived brightness: bright
QR Code
