点评:Perseus and Medusa is one of several bronze and marble sculptures that you can see for free at the Loggia dei Lanzi.
This is one of the most famous works at the loggia but because it's a small, open-air gallery and not a museum, you can walk right up to it and see it up close.
It shows the moment when Perseus has just cut off Medusa’s snake head.
He holds it triumphantly up in the air, as if it is a prize that he has just won.
According to the legend, Medusa was a Gorgon monster with a writhing, tangled mass of snakes instead of hair. Her party trick was to turn anyone who looked at her into stone.
To avoid becoming a lump of stone himself, Perseus had to find some way of fighting Medusa without actually looking directly at her. He came up with an ingenious plan to use a mirrored shield so that he could still see her but never had to look into her eyes.
Apparently the sculpture was incredibly difficult to make because it was hard to get the bronze hot enough to fill the cast. After a couple of failures, the sculptor, Cellini, resorted to burning the wooden furniture in his own house. Finally, he threw in his silver and pewter as well to bring the heat up. It did the trick.
If you are going next door to the Uffizi, look out for Caravaggio’s painting of Medusa – it was nice to compare the two.
翻译:在佣兵凉廊(Loggia dei Lanzi),您可以免费欣赏到几尊青铜和大理石雕塑,其中就包括《珀尔修斯与美杜莎》。
这尊雕塑是凉廊中最著名的作品之一,但由于这里是一个小型露天画廊而非博物馆,您可以走近它,近距离观赏。
它描绘了珀尔修斯刚刚砍下美杜莎蛇头的瞬间。
他得意洋洋地将蛇头高高举起,仿佛这是他刚刚赢得的战利品。
传说中,美杜莎是戈耳工中的一位怪物,她的头发是由一团扭动缠绕的蛇组成。她的绝招是将任何直视她的人变成石头。
为了避免自己也变成石头,珀尔修斯必须找到一种既能与美杜莎战斗又不必直视她的方法。他想出了一个巧妙的办法:使用一面镜子盾牌,这样他既能看到美杜莎,又不必与她对视。
据说这尊雕塑的制作极其困难,因为很难将青铜加热到足以填充模具的温度。在几次失败后,雕塑家切利尼甚至烧掉了自己家里的木制家具。最后,他又把家里的银器和锡器也放进去加热。这招果然奏效。
如果你要去隔壁的乌菲齐美术馆,不妨也看看卡拉瓦乔的《美杜莎》——比较一下这两幅画作很有意思。