Antefix with Medusa
Date6th century B.C.
Label TextImages of women could signify power in Greek art, even when shown as the grotesque antithesis of beauty, the Gorgon. While mythology casts the monstrous Gorgon Medusa and her sisters as wicked—again the external manifestation of internal character—the Gorgon was regularly incorporated in art as a symbol of military victory, appearing on countless breastplates of victorious generals and leaders in the Greek and Roman empires.
Object number2002.40
ProvenanceGeorg Brosi Collection, Basel, Switzerland, by 1965; 1975 to Torkom Demirjian; gift 2002 to Seattle Art Museum
Credit LineGift of Torkom Demirjian in memory of Dr. Felix Burda
Münich, Germany and Seattle, Washington
Dimensions6 1/4 x 10 x 3/4 in. (15.9 x 25.4 x 1.9 cm)
MediumTerracotta
Italian (Genoa)
early-mid 15th century, 1st half 15th century
Object number: 61.55
Achaemenid, Persepolis, (modern Iran)
ca. 500 B.C.
Object number: 40.49
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