Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-172) and index.

Preliminary Material -- 1 The Story of Perseus and Medusa, an Interpretation of Its Meaning, and the Topos of Decapitation -- 2 Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa: The Paradigm of Control -- 3 Renaissance Political Theory and Paradoxes of Power -- 4 The Goddess as Other and Same -- 5 The Sexual Symbolism of the Perseus and Medusa  -- 6 The Public Face of Justice -- 7 Classical and Grotesque Polities -- 8 Eleonora di Toledo and the Image of the Mother Goddess -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.

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Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus and Medusa , one of Renaissance Italy’s most complex sculptures, is the subject of this study, which proposes that the statue’s androgynous appearance is paradoxical. Symbolizing the male ruler overcoming a female adversary, the Perseus legitimizes patriarchal power; but the physical similarity between Cellini’s characters suggests the hero rose through female agency. Dr. Corretti argues that although not a surrogate for powerful Medici women, Cellini’s Medusa may have reminded viewers that Cosimo I de’ Medici’s power stemmed in part from maternal influence. Drawing upon a vast body of art and literature, Dr. Corretti concludes that Cellini and his contemporaries knew the Gorgon as a version of the Earth Mother, whose image is found in art for Medici women.