Medusa Murtola

Medusa Murtola, an early version of the famous Uffizi shield, depicts the Gorgon's head at the instant of decapitation — mouth open in a scream, snakes writhing, blood spurting from the severed neck. The name derives from the poet Gaspare Murtola, who wrote a verse celebrating the work. Oil on canvas — by the sixteenth century the dominant medium for ambitious works — allowed successive glazes of transparent color and freedom to rework the composition.

Painted on a convex wooden shield, the work exploits the curved surface to enhance the three-dimensional illusion of the projecting head. The blood and snakes are rendered with the visceral specificity that made Caravaggio's early works both thrilling and shocking to contemporary viewers.