51 Gallery
February 2017 Auction 10 February 2017
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GREECE, CHALCEDONY CAMEO WITH HEAD OF MEDUSA, Hellenistic period, 52mm. Complete and in exceptional state of preservation. Former Belgian private collection
In Greek mythology Medusa was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with a hideous face and living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazers upon her face would turn to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
In Greek mythology Medusa was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with a hideous face and living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazers upon her face would turn to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.