Cleveland Museum of Art

Single Miniature Excised from Boccaccio's Des Cleres et nobles femmes: Queen Medusa and Her Court

Maître François

Date

c. 1470

Medium

tempera and gold on vellum

Culture

France, 15th century

Department

Medieval Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This miniature comes from the French translation of a book by the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). A compilation of biographies of famous women, Boccaccio’s work remained popular in France throughout the 1400s, especially with aristocratic bibliophiles, and was usually beautifully illustrated in the form of a deluxe manuscript. Shown here is the miniature introducing the chapter dealing with the legend of Queen Medusa. Surrounded by her courtiers, Medusa instructs the reader on the disadvantages of possessing wealth, which brings fear and superstition as well as loss of sleep, security, and peace of mind. Medusa is shown here with her attendants before she was turned into the gorgon, a fierce frightening monster.

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