Sunday, March 29, 2015

My paper on Cellini's "Perseus and medusa" accepted for publication



My paper titled "The myth of Medusa: Benvenuto Cellini and the “Loggia dei Lanzi” in Florence" has been accepted today for publication.  It will appear in a book titled “The Cnidaria, past, present and future. The world of Medusa and her sisters”, published by Springer and edited by Stefano Goffredo and Zvy Dubinsky.

My contribution to this book is about the mythological Medusa, even though the book is mainly dedicated to the biology of the creatures named 'Cnidaria', best known in everyday life as "Medusas" (even though not all Cnidaria are Medusas). In any case, they are the kind of creatures you don't want to meet when you swim in the sea, but which have become very common, unfortunately for us.


Although Medusas, intended as Cnidaria, are rather nasty creatures; that is not the same for the mythological Medusa. She was not a monster, it was just bad press and propaganda that transformed her into a monster. It could happen in ancient times just as it happens today. And the fascinating thing about Cellini's representation of Medusa is that he understood exactly this: that she was not a monster and he refused to represent her as a monster.

About this paper, I must confess that I hated myself several times for having accepted to write it. With the zillion things I have to do, I couldn't figure out how I could find the time to write a complete academic paper on Cellini and his work, with references, figures, and all the rest; while at the same time maintaining some remnants of mental sanity. In the end, however, I made it and it is a remarkable satisfaction to see it "in press."



About the myth of Perseus and Medusa, I wrote some posts in this blog. Here is a list:

Cellini's Medusa (an early version of the paper I am describing here)

The head of Medusa (just a spectacular photo of the head of Cellini's Medusa)

David and Medusa (about a weird image of Medusa by Guy and Rodd)

The Art of Femicide (some reflections on the bad habit of beheading women that some males seemed to cultivate in ancient as well as in modern times)

And if you would like to have a preprint of the paper I am describing here, just drop me a note at ugo.bard(littlemedusa)unifi.it






7 comments:

  1. Why nasty animals? Possibly Medusa and jellyfish have exactly this in common: astonishing beautiful and fascinating, but deadly dangerous.
    Jacopo

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  2. Ciao !
    Egregio signore professore.

    Il mito e la storia senza parola... piu tosto, la parola non conta tanto que il senzo..
    Mutos Logos Mythos Logos.
    Con il senzo e senza la parola..
    Cuando ero piu giovanne, la mia nonna me parlava, e me contava, gli storie di sant'azzo e di sant' azza.
    Cueli due personagi sono meglio conosciute sotto il nome di Odysseus e di Pelenope.

    Sono un dilettante, non un mercenario, ho scritto poco ma me pare giusto, sul falso ''Satiro de Mazarra del Vallo' Cicila.
    ------- Giusto in caso : Cicilia e il paese dove c'é la provincia conosciuta como : ITALIA.. ;o))

    Bellissima statua, che non é cuella di un satiro ma un ''corridore' campione di corsa ad un gioco anticho.
    Il mio Italiano e como il mio Inglese de secunda mano.
    Ho mandato un picollo articolo con prove e con un disegno del corridor antich a la SAPIENZA in ROMA.
    Ma c'é forse un chioperro, nessun ma scritto, per dire niente.

    Cuando non c'é niente a dire, uno si tzitte..
    In caso che voi vodrebbere leggere il mio articolo con prove et il studio che ho fatto.

    S. CARVAJAL alias orthodharma

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    Replies
    1. Certo che lo voglio leggere, anche se non ti garantisco che mi piaccia. Mandalo a ugo.bardi(spirulina)unifi.it

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  3. Dear professor, you are very mean with Medusa, she was an noble Sicilian deity... ;o)
    S. CARVAJAL

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  4. va bene in francese et simil Italiano. Caro professore, non compro, non vendo.
    Il mondo de la mitologia é per tutti, ogni uno porta un puo di luce, crédo che ho una o due canele che fano luce ;o)

    é cui: sul il mio blog contra la schiavitud, per la civilizacione, la nostra cuella del diritto scritto e del contratto :o)

    https://laliguechretienne.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/latleta-atlante-lathlete-atlante/
    Il disegno e originale e coyrighted, in high places, CAPICE e il articolo se puo fare referenza senz dimenticare il autore.



    S. CARVAJAL Management Sratégique alias orthodharma

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    Replies
    1. C'est intéressant, monsieur Orthodharma. Le satire de Mazara del Vallo c'est une statue énigmatique, pas facile à interpréter. Peut bien être que vous avez raison, mais c'est un domaine d’études très difficile - je ne me prononce pas. Merci quand même!

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  5. Bonsoir Professeur. Carvajal est un nom patronymique.
    c'est mon vrai nom.

    Professeur, je vous fourni une info, je cherche pas un juge.
    Vous faites ce que vous voulez.

    Wikipedia .../... la statue possédait des anneaux soudès aux épaules, elle était suspendue.
    Ensuite il s'agit de connaitre un peu les jeux Grecs, grecs très anciens, connaitre le dessin artistique et l'anatomie humaine.

    Bonsoir professeur, enchanté.
    Cordialment.

    salvatore CARVAJAL

    ReplyDelete