Medusa monster statue

Medusa was once a beautiful priestess of Athena, transformed into a Gorgon — her hair turned to writhing serpents, her gaze petrifying any who met it — as punishment by the goddess. Slain by the hero Perseus with the aid of Athena's mirrored shield, her head retained its power and became the apotropaic emblem placed on shields, gates, and temple pediments to ward off evil. She has fascinated artists from antiquity to Caravaggio and beyond.