bronze mask of Medusa

Height: 28cm Width: 28cm Depth to wall: 12.5cm

One of the most iconic characters in ancient Greek mythology, Medusa, whose name means guardian or protectress, was a winged female monster. A Gorgon. Instead of hair, she had hissing venomous snakes. Anyone who looked at her face would be petrified - literally turned into stone.

But Medusa had another life before being a Gorgon. She had been a beautiful young girl, who, after being seduced by Poseidon in Athena's temple, was transformed by Athena into a hideous monster.

She was eventually beheaded by the hero Perseus, who managed to avoid being turned into stone, thanks to various gifts from the gods: Athena gave him a polished shield so that he could avoid looking straight at Medusa; Hermes gave him winged sandals; Hephaistos gave him a sword, and Hades a helmet of invisibility.

When she died, Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon, so when Perseus beheaded her, Pegasus the winged horse emerged.

Medusa's image, in the form of her severed snake-haired head, became known as a Gorgoneion. It formed a central element in the aegis shared by Zeus and Athena, and developed as an apotropaic symbol, designed to ward off evil.

The bronze pieces are cast in Greece using the traditional lost wax method. As nothing is mass-produced, there will inevitably be slight variations in texture, patina, and colour. No two pieces are ever the same. If mounted on a marble base, it will be a black or very dark grey base. There may be a variation of some millimetres in the dimensions of the base from time to time.

It's All Greek is proud to have been working with the Semitekolo family foundry since 1999. It has been a privilege to handle these gorgeous pieces and to sell them to customers all over the world.