Medusa Rondanini Analysis

Stemming from Greek mythology, Medusa was a monster, a gorgon, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. The stories vary as to why Medusa was so horrific in sight, such as her boastfulness towards Athena or not marrying Poseidon. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. Upon traveling to Rome, Goethe was stuck by the sculpture, Medusa Rondanini, while at an exhibit in Palazzo Rondanini. The sculptor depicts Perseus in a heroic stance holding Medusa’s head. His fascination with the tensions revealed in a cast of the Medusa Rondanini can be seen in the “Tod und Leben” . The paint shows the death of those trying to hold on to their humanistic nature, similarly, it is the ‘contest between life and death, between pain and rapture, exercises, like some great problem’ that draws Goethe’s attention when he views the

This shows Goethe's influence on general public based upon his movements and experiences that caught the attention of many of the elite. Those looking in on Goethe’s conduct, such as the king of Baravia, hoped to gain such wisdom for himself and his people. I reason that King Ludwig of Baravia purchased the Medusa sculpture in order to proclaim his citizens as distinctly enlightened because of their relativity to the artistic piece. Thus, King Ludwig began to emphasize a focus on visual arts for self-understanding and Grand Tours to gain hands-on education as well as economic status. Therefore, Munich became an important center for visual arts and painting because of the self-identification that was only believed to be found in