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, and from her severed head emerged Pegasus the winged horse.

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.

Made in Greece in the workshop of the Semitekolo family, with whom It's All Greek is proud to have been working since 1999. They also produce our bedrock bronze collection.

The material is keramin, a durable plaster polymer compound with a light ochre finish applied by hand. There may, therefore, be a slight variation in colour from piece to piece. A strong 'hook' is embedded into the keramin, so the mask is ready to hang.