INSPIRATIONS- Inside Medusa's Lair

Inside Medusa's Lair (Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 in)

My latest art work is an acrylic texture painting of the Medusa's lair in Turkey. The lair is located inside one of Istanbul's hundreds of underground cisterns. One of these, the Basilica Cistern or  'the sunken palace' was built in the 6th century but what makes it rather peculiar are the two pillars with Medusa's head. It is still a mystery how these pillars got inside the Cistern. According to one legend, they were brought here from a Roman temple. These two column pillars have Medusa's head at their base- one is tilted sideways and another upside down. According to some,  they were kept in such a way to negate the power of Medusa's gaze. Others believe, that it was probably inverted as it symbolized a pagan past.

Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters who had snakes for hair and a mesmerizing gaze that would turn any man who looked in them, into stone. According to another legend, Medusa was a beautiful sea nymph who was seduced by Poseidon inside the temple of Athena. Enraged, Athena then cursed Medusa that whoever gazed in her enchanting eyes would turn into stone. Later, Medusa was beheaded by her lover Perseus who used her head to win many a war. Apparently, her stone-turning gaze survived her death. Over time, Medusa's myth developed strong apotropaic annotations and her head-motif came to be used as a talisman to deflect misfortune and bad luck. Throughout ancient Greece and Anatolia ( ancient Turkey), her head was painted or built on buildings to deflect negative energy. Medusa's myth still has a strong hold in the Mediterranean region. Blue and white 'evil eye' representing Medusa's eye are still sold as a talisman by the hoardes. This painting is just an attempt at capturing the mystery of Medusa's head swimming in the tranquil scarlet waters of the sunken palace...