Getty Museum

Gorgoneion Applique

Date

about 300–275 B.C.

Medium

Silver with gilding

Culture

Greek

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

This gilded silver relief attachment represents the aegis, a breastplate made of goatskin fringed with snakes that provided the goddess Athena with magical protection. A gorgoneion, the severed head of the monstrous gorgon Medusa, given to Athena by the hero Perseus forms the center of the aegis. The legendary snaky hair of Medusa is here reduced to two serpents, whose tails are knotted under her chin. The silversmith left the face of the gorgon bare and covered the rest of the relief with gilding. This color contrast further emphasizes the powers of the decapitated head, whose gaze could turn people to stone. A scaly pattern surrounds the head, forming the rest of the aegis. Only traces of the snakes survive on the battered edges of the relief.

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