Medusa
<p>A prolific writer, poet, and artist, Jean Delville was a leading figure of the Idealist branch of Belgian Symbolism, intent on painting visionary ideas instead of images inspired by the real world. Here, he depicted Medusa, a figure from Greek mythology often described as having venomous snakes for hair. According to myth, those who gazed into Medusa’s eyes turned to stone. In Delville’s drawing, Medusa’s hypnotic eyes stare out from a web of sinuous liquids, serpents, smoke, and a blue veil that partially obscures her face.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1893
- Dimensions
- 23.8 × 44.5 cm (9 3/8 × 17 9/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Jean Delville
Artist
Drawing
Jean Delville was a Belgian painter and sculptor whose symbolist works combined mystical and occult imagery with academic precision. Active from the 1880s through the mid-20th century, he developed a distinctive visual language drawing on theosophy, alchemy, and classical mythology, rendered in jewel-toned oils and bronze. His large allegorical canvases and portrait busts demonstrated technical mastery of both traditional and esoteric subject matter. Delville founded artist societies and wrote theoretical texts on the spiritual dimensions of art, positioning himself as a bridge between academic modernism and occult philosophy.
Full artist profile →Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Jean Delville
- Year
- 1893
- Dimensions
- 23.8 × 44.5 cm (9 3/8 × 17 9/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1893-138524
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified