Medusa’s Lament – Vine Charcoal on paper by Allan Krummenacker

Description

Greek mythology tells us that Medusa was a beautiful young woman, who prized her long luxurious hair as her greatest asset. In one version of the legend, she compared herself to the goddesses in beauty and was punished for that vanity. In another version, she attracted the attentions of the god Neptune who took her to the temple of Minerva and mated with her.  Minerva punished Medusa by turning her hair into snakes. Although many depictions in film and art show Medusa as monstrous in appearance as the other legendary Gorgons whose gaze turned men to stone, this is not usually found in the actual legends. And given the Greek gods and goddesses penchant for ironic punishment, this made sense to the artist. Leaving Medusa forever beautiful, but unable to enjoy her long tresses, coupled with the fact that no living being could look upon her beauty without turning to stone, seemed in keeping with their practices.  So here, we see the true pain of the cursed young woman and can feel sympathy for her.

In this piece, the artist has employed vine charcoal to capture this moment on paper.