Brooch with the Head of Medusa in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2018

Brooch

Maker:Firm of Castellani

Maker:Mosaic possibly by Luigi Podio

Date:before 1888

Culture:Italian

Medium:Glass micromosaic, gold

Dimensions:Overall: 1 1/2 x 2 13/16 in. (3.8 x 7.1 cm)

Classification:Metalwork-Jewelry

Credit Line:Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2007

Accession Number:2007.299.1

The pale yellow-gold mount is a subtle foil for the head of medusa, whose grisly coiffure crawling with snakes is no less exquisitely configured in blond hues of the tesserated glass known as micromosaic. Luigi Podio was the chief micromosaic specialist in the Roman firm of Fortunato Pio Castellani. Matching ancient imagery with technologies also re-created from classical antiquity, Castellani served an avid international clientele.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/235835