Head of Medusa 1680

Godfried Maes created this 'Head of Medusa' as an etching in the late 17th century. Maes renders Medusa with writhing snakes for hair, frozen in a scream. Medusa's image has long served as a warning, a grotesque symbol of feminine power turned monstrous. In the 17th century, the rise of academies codified artistic training and taste, often promoting a vision of ideal beauty that excluded the raw emotion seen here. Made in the Southern Netherlands, this etching reflects the region's complex relationship with classical mythology and its own artistic traditions. Was Maes critiquing the academic emphasis on idealized beauty by embracing such an explicitly violent image? Was it self-consciously progressive? By examining period literature, art criticism, and the history of printmaking, we can better understand how Maes' "Medusa" challenged or reinforced the social norms of its time. The meaning of art is always contingent on its context.